Moon Blessed
by Dannyyob
Summary: imagine if you will a time ages past when demons walked the earth. Now imagine if you will that, despite all you have been told, that time had yet to end. A/U
1. Prologue

A/N: hello to all! Here's another story by yours truly. Just something I had to get off my chest. See A/N at bottom if you want to hear me rant. ^.^

Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to Ouran save this humble story.

* * *

Imagine if you will a time ages past when demons walked the earth. Taller than any man and covered head to toe with fur, some with deadly horns growing out of their skulls, many with fearfully sharp claws and pointed teeth, they were truly monstrous beings. Powerful and terrifying these creatures of myth stalked all the Great Forests, places thick with trees so tall and strong that not even the sun could penetrate the upper canopy so that the world beneath knew only a green glow high above and dark shadows well below. And within these shadows these demons went about their lives, living and hunting far and apart from the rest of the world, taming the Forests and all its wildlife, and protecting the precious gifts it held from the greedy humans who dared to venture within their territory to take these gifts. Time and again these humans came and time and again the demons defended the Forests from the harmful influence of mankind with a ferocity that sent the survivors fleeing back to their fellows with tales made worse with fearful imagination.

But still the humans came.

Now imagine a great war between the humans and the demons. Imagine blood, and rage, and burning fire, and an endless stream of tears wept over the broken bodies of the fallen.

To the demons of the Forests, there was a cold realization that no matter how hard they fought there was no hope of keeping the humans at bay. From every direction they came, hacking away at the proud giants who had stood for timeless centuries until they fell, polluting the streams that ran throughout until everything began to sicken, and killing off all the animals until there was scarcely any food left to feed their young.

With heavy hearts, the demons of the Forests understand that if they continued to protect them they would all die and the gifts of the Forests would still be lost. Their only hope was to flee and pray they could thrive elsewhere, and yet as they were where could they go without being recognized for what they were and being attacked? As they despaired at the hopelessness the future bore the Forests heard their cries, feeling the pain they all shared as one and, remembering the dedication with which the demons had shown in protecting them, offered up their precious gifts to them.

Taking them the demons fled the Forests, fleeing the safety of the trees they once had called home for now they were no longer safe and ventured out into a world they had never known, disappearing without a trace.

The Forests left unprotected were dominated by mankind, all their resources taken away, used for the humans own benefit, and the memory of the demons that had once lived there faded away into the mythical tales of the present as generation upon generation of humanity was born into the world.

Imagine if you will a time ages past when demons walked the earth. Now imagine if you will that, despite all you have been told, that time had yet to end.

* * *

A/N: All right, just so everyone is clear, this story is going to be a theme crossover with another manga called 'Lycanthrope Leo' by Kengo Kaji and Kenji Okamura- which means I'll be using the terminology and general theme of the story as well as possibly bringing in characters from that story. And now, onto the rant.

Now many of you might not be familiar with title since so far, of the four volumes it's comprised of, only one was ever translated to English… Back in 1997!!! WTF!?! You can't imagine how friggin pissed off I was when I found out that little detail. Reasons for why Viz had yet to complete translations vary from it not being as popular as many people had hoped to one bloke being told quite plainly that the series was just too brutally violent. Again WTF!?! In my opinion the artwork is just fricken awesome and just from the first volume the story seems to hold a considerable amount of potential. And as for that crap about it being too violent? - Well there are probably a few titles I can name off in my head that go beyond brutal. In my opinion there is absolutely no reason why the series shouldn't be continued. I could've gone postal when I also realized there weren't any translations on the net that went beyond the first book.

And so it was during my hate fest that a rather clever scheme was conceived. If any of you keep up to date with a site called onemangadotcom, you might have noticed that a certain story called Bitter Virgin gained 2nd place(if I remember right) on the popularity board, coincidentally not long after I had posted the first few chapters of my other story "Virgin Heartache". Possibilities notwithstanding, after its sudden boom in popularity, the rest of the chapters to that story where suddenly translated within a month after six months of inactivity. I hope by now you've seen where I'm going with this. If you haven't caught the drift of my devilishly ingenious plot, this story I write serves not only to release my own creativity but also to jumpstart the popularity of Lycanthrope Leo and hopefully get the rest of those volumes out.

In short to all that I have said, GO AND CHECK OUT LYCANTHROPE LEO!!! And so ends my rant.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello again, now we're onto the real story. My songs of choice while writing this out were 'Welcome to the black parade' and 'Where is the love'.

I hope you all enjoy. Chow.

Disclaimer : I do not own Ouran or any references belonging to Lycanthrope Leo or Nana and their respective owners.

Within the wintered forest,

This world held by frost,

The Great Beast moves unnoticed.

A flash of light arced wildly across the darkened sky, veins of bluish-white spreading out over the gloomy masses hovering high above, momentarily illuminating the busy streets below. As a deep rumble of thunder rolled out through the air over the city the sky broke and a flood of rain poured forth from the vault of heaven, falling to the earth below. As the first few fat drops quickly turned into a heavy downpour the people walking below scattered to the nearest shelters to escape getting drenched.

While people pushed and shoved to huddle within doorways and beneath any available overhangs two figures in dark cloaks darted down the emptied sidewalks. Icy rain pounded down on their bodies and a viscous wind tugged fiercely at their clothes as they ran full speed, moving as if their very lives depended on it, swinging around corners and bounding across busy streets.

Another bolt of lightning flashed through the sky and one of the figures, the shorter of the two, tripped and fell to the ground. The other figure who'd been leading the way halted, turned and ran back to the one who'd fallen and for some inexplicable reason lay hunched over the wet cement, their arms thrown up over their head as they trembled uncontrollably. Reaching out the second figure grabbed an arm and pulled his companion up off the ground and, with his own arm wrapped around their back, half-dragged the smaller one through the streets until half an hour later they reached an old apartment complex.

The metal steps clanged loudly as they both climbed hurriedly up the stairs to the second floor and moved quickly for a door at the end of the walkway. Unlocking it after a few clumsy attempts the door opened and the two practically stumbled over one another into the small room beyond, slamming the door behind them and throwing the room back into a state of pitch black. Someone uttered a small curse and there was the sound of someone fumbling around before the lights suddenly clicked on.

The two of them were standing in a kitchen… a rather empty kitchen. Aside from a lonely fridge that sat off to the side the room was bare of any other furniture or objects that might have given it the slightest personality. The smallest of the pair sniffed, noting the staleness in the air, reached out and ran a hand over the counter leaving a very distinct trail that stood out in the thick layer of dust that covered it. The house hadn't been in use for apparently quite some time.

There were two other doors in the room, one to the left of the entrance and a dingy sliding door on the other side of the room. The taller figure went straight for the sliding door and after a brief struggle with its stubborn wheels pulled it open, ushering the other one through.

The next room was as bad as the kitchen. In this room there was only one large table that occupied the center and a small t.v. tucked away in a corner. Both were equally coated in a blanket of dust as deep as what had been on the counter.

"Well-," said the one who had led them there as he shrugged off his wet cloak. "-we're here."

He was a handsome young man, maybe somewhere in his mid-twenties, who stood somewhere around six feet tall. Even with the dark heavy bags under his eyes or the drawn look to his colorless face he was still unimaginably good looking. Running a hand through the wet brown locks that clung stubbornly to his face he glanced over at his companion with tired eyes that in the faint light from the ceiling were revealed to be a darkish brown color with an oddly reddish tint.

The other figure hovered near the door, head bowed and unmoving. With a sigh the man stepped lightly around the table towards a closet on the other side. Sliding it open he stared inside for a moment before reaching in and pulling out several old and worn out towels. Holding them in one hand he gave the towels a few hardy shakes that dispelled a small cloud of dust into the air. Coughing as the cloud invaded his lungs he made his way back across the room and held one of them out.

"Here, use this to dry off. It's not exactly clean but it'll do the job." After his companion mutely accepted the towel he started towards the only other door in the room.

"Stay here while I go check in the bedroom to see if there are any dry clothes we can change into. It's been a while but I _think_ there just might be some."

As he went into the other room connected to the living room the silent figure brought up a hand and removed the hood revealing the tired looking face of a young woman framed with dark tresses. She undid the clasp holding the cloak together in the front and shed the wet garment off her slender body, letting it fall to the floor while she let her brown eyes wander aimlessly over the room. Taking in the sheer emptiness of the room a dark feeling brushed over her heart and an uncomfortable itch entered her eyes. She honestly felt like crying.

Then the man came back into the room with a pair of pants and shirt in hand and she quickly hid her face into the dingy towel so he wouldn't see how close she was to tears.

"There are some clothes that I think will fit you on the desk in the next room. Go and change in there while I change out here. And hey- don't go peeking. I'm a shy boy you know."

He sent her a half-hearted smile at his attempt at humor while she sailed past him towards the bedroom without bothering to return it. As she entered she immediately located the desk with a small pile of clothes that were obviously meant for her. Closing the door behind her she reached into the pile and started shifting through it until she found a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt that would fit her comfortably enough.

Peeling off her clothes which stuck to her like a second skin she hung them over the chair set against the desk to dry before looking down at her underwear. The rain had been so bad that even those had been soaked clean through. With a sigh she stripped them off too and, seeing no place to put them out of sight, hid them under her other wet clothes before pulling on the shorts and shirt.

She started moving towards the door, wrapping the damp towel around her head, when she paused and turned her head to look back at the room. Like the other two rooms there was little to nothing in it. Next to the desk was an empty bookcase and over in the far corner was a small table with a reading lamp on top. There were no windows in this room and the walls, darkened with dust and age, were all bare – except for what appeared to be a poster tacked to the wall above the lamp.

From this angle by the door she couldn't see what was on it so she moved in closer until she found herself standing in front of it. Printed on the poster was the picture of a stage in some kind of club lit by lights in front of a sizable audience. Standing on it were two guitarists who were positioned off to either side, one who had blond hair and was decked out in leather apparel while the other looked like a bishonen with blue hair and a face full of piercings, neither of whom looked like they were even out of their teens yet, an intense looking drummer, bald headed and wearing a black suit and shades with a cigarette hanging out his mouth, while standing right at the very front singing her heart out into a microphone held in both hands was a woman-the bands lead singer.

The woman was pearly white skin bathed near entirely in black. Besides her own straight black hair and the dark makeup painted on her face she wore a pinstripe jacket and matching tie of three different colors (white, black and grey) over a black blouse and black skirt over a pair of black slacks. All that black gave her a gothic appeal. She looked exotic. And beautiful.

Her eyes traveled above the band to the top of the poster where in bold black letters surrounded in white was the band's name- '**Blast'**.

"_What's Blast, daddy?"_

"_A few years ago Blast was a pretty famous band from the same town where I used to live sweetie- One that, when we were younger, both me and your mother went to a lot of concerts for. This is a picture of them at their first live in Tokyo. "_

"_Were they really good?"_

"_The best! They were the greatest band in the entire world!"_

She jerked her head away from the poster as the voices, an achingly familiar echo from the past, sounded inside her head. But after it there came other echoes- accompanied by hazy scenes and hinted scents and all the feelings that went with them. As the rush of memories swarmed within her, feeling with them a swell of darkness that rose up and washed over her heart while the itchy sensation in her eyes got infinitely worse, she closed her eyes. In the darkness of her mind she was submerged beneath crushing waves within a roaring sea of emotion, tossed and turned by an unrelenting current and drowning on every drop filled alike with both the painful and cheerful moments of her life.

Taking a deep steady breath she forced her body to relax and started counting to seven in her head before exhaling for a count of five and then drawing in another breath to repeat the process. She did this over and over, concentrating on her breathing as the sea within her mind slowly emptied out, the tide of memories falling back until finally she stood upon a tiny island and there was nothing left but the sound of her own breathing.

Opening her eyes again she turned away from the wall and the poster and stepped lightly towards the door, trying her hardest not to look too closely at anything in the room itself. She didn't want to find herself remembering anything else, caught up again in the choking hold of the sea- not right now.

Sliding the door open she stepped back into the living room and immediately realized the man wasn't there. From the kitchen however she could hear the sound of cupboard doors being opened and shut and clanging metal as someone moved about in the other room. Gazing about the room, she was suddenly irked as she noticed the pile of wet clothing dumped on top of the table's dirty surface.

'_Honestly!_ 'She thought to herself as she picked them up off the table, taking them with her back into the bedroom. It aggravated her greatly whenever he left things like that, and she knew that he knew it as well. This only led to the suspected conclusion that he did it purposely to frustrate her. Even though he was older than her he still acted like an immature child!

She heard footsteps behind her as she laid his clothes out next to hers and turned her head to see him standing in the doorway with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Er- you didn't have to do that."

"Didn't I?" she replied as she laid the last piece of clothing, a pair of black boxers with purple hearts all over it, on top of his pants. "Because it seems to me that if I don't do it, it never gets done, now does it- Uncle?"

"Oh come on, Haruhiii-! "The man whined, drawing out the last syllable of her name. "I told you I didn't want you calling me that! It makes me sound old! And anyways I would've put them up eventually- I just felt that other things were more important at the moment."

"Like what?" Haruhi asked, turning the rest of her body to face him while crossing her arms and giving him a pointed look.

"Like finding out if we had anything edible besides baked beans and old ramen noodle." He said holding up a big brown can with the picture of a steaming bowl of the stuff printed on the label in one hand and a couple packages of instant ramen in the other. "So what's your flavor, pork or chicken?"

"…Pork." She said with a deep sigh as she followed him back into the kitchen. On the stove was a small pot filled halfway with water set over a low flame. Taking the packages from him as he started going through the drawers again to find a can opener she crushed them with both hands before opening them and dumping the contents into the pot, being careful to catch the silver packages that held the seasoning before they fell into the water. She looked up from stirring the pot with a wooden spoon when she heard him slam the last drawer he'd opened and curse in frustration.

"Not a damn can opener anywhere. I could've sworn when we'd left, this place was better stocked than this." He stared thoughtfully at the can for a moment before reaching out and picking it up with his left hand. Flexing his right hand he placed three fingers over the top of the can and started pressing down until-

- Pop!

His fingers sank straight into the metal top! Holding firmly onto the can he yanked hard, peeling the top off and threw it into the sink. He quickly brought his hand up to his mouth and started licking the sweet juices running down his fingers.

"I hope you remembered to wash your hands."

"They're clean enough." He replied dismissively. Reaching into another cupboard he pulled out a pair of bowls and small plates that looked like they had known better days. Running them under the faucet first he shook away the excess water before he dumped half the can of beans onto each plate while Haruhi took the bowls and split the ramen the same way. Taking their meal back into the living room Haruhi whipped the towel off her head and wiped the table clean before setting the dishes down.

"Itadakimasu!" her uncle said out loud and dug into his food while Haruhi picked quietly at hers. They ate in silence for a few minutes before the man started moving his head to take in the room.

"Man, Kotoko would cry if she'd seen how gloomy this place has gotten." Her uncle suddenly commented.

Haruhi jolted as her mother's name was brought up and looked up from her plate to see him gazing fondly around the room. "I remember way back when me and your folks first got this place. We'd just came down from up north and neither me nor your father had so much as a single cent between the both of us but your mother- being the amazingly resourceful woman she was- made a few calls and managed to pull some strings and before you knew it this is where we were. The years that followed after are still among the best memories I have…"

The man shook himself before turning his eyes onto her.

"It'll take a little elbow grease but I think that the two of us can get this place back into tiptop shape in no time. Tomorrow we'll clean the place up a bit, go and buy some of the necessities you'll need like food, clothes, a few pictures to decorate the walls… and then after that we'll go and get you signed on to the account so you'll have access to the funds."

Haruhi felt her mouth go very dry. This was the moment she'd been dreading.

"We'll get everything settled with the landlord and then-"

"You'll take off." She finished, keeping her eyes concentrated on her plate.

"…Haruhi, you know I have no choice. The Tribe has to be informed about what's happened. At most I'll only be gone about a month and-"

"A month!" she scoffed, setting her fork down. Standing up from the table she stalked over to the window, crossed her arms and stared out at the pouring rain, watching it splatter against the pane and dribble to the bottom.

"And just what did you expect me to do while you were away all this time, hmmm? Spend my time sitting over in the corner, counting the minutes go by? Do you honestly think I could live like that? Alone in this house day after day all by myself while waiting for you to come back when… when you might not even come back?"

She said all this while focusing her attention beyond the window, refusing to even look at him, but from his position on the floor he could see how badly her arms were shaking.

"Haruhi…" Her uncle sighed, standing up to his own feet and walked around the table to where she stood and wove his arms around her.

She turned within his embrace and leaned into him, circling her arms around his waist. A stifled sob broke loose of her lips and she pushed her face into him, breathing harshly into his chest, taking in his scent and with it a small measure of comfort as he ran one of his hands soothingly up and down her back.

"Please-"She begged in a thin voice. "Please… just take me with you. Don't leave me alone in this place."

"Haruhi, I honestly wish I could but, with the way things are, the Elders-"

-Wouldn't allow it, because the Elders simply didn't trust her. He didn't need to say anything because that was the unspoken truth they were both aware of. From the time ever since she was a small child the Tribe, the people who were suppose to be her family, her kin, had denied her the very right to walk amongst them. Not even being of their blood had given her that.

After all she was her father's daughter.

A low angry growl sounded somewhere in the recesses of her mind at the thought of the injustice but she clenched her teeth and ignored it, instead pushing herself from her uncle's chest to look him in the eyes.

"Promise me you'll come back."

He smiled warmly at her before ruffling the top of her head. "I promise, even if the Elders dare to forbid it, that I'll come back to you. Just you don't go about and replace me while I'm gone."

"Right," She replied sarcastically, moving out of his arms to walk back to the table "As if there could ever be anybody as remotely annoying to take your place."

Her uncle tried to look offended but gave up when Haruhi giggled at his expression and instead gave a throaty chuckle himself. Taking her seat Haruhi turned her head to glace about the room like her uncle had and sighed sadly as she once more took in the despairing emptiness of it. Even now it was difficult to believe that this place had once been, and was for the unforeseeable future going to be, her home.

"It's going to be lonely waiting for you to return- not to mention boring." She said as she took up her fork and started pushing her food around the plate again.

"Don't be too sure about that" her uncle replied, returning to his own seat.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking at him in confusion.

"Well you didn't honestly think you'd be free to spend all your time over in the corner did you?" he said giving her a lopsided grin. "You forget that you're still only fifteen, and a fifteen year old girl living by herself would unfortunately only draw attention. Regrettably there's nothing we can do about that for the time being, but what we can do is give you something to do which will help ease some of the suspicion off of you. I had to give it some thought on our way here and as I was thinking I remembered an acquaintance of mine who may hold a solution."

"A solution?" she questioned, suddenly not liking the cheerful grin plastered on his face. "What is it?"

"Tell me my dear, have you ever heard of a place called Ouran?"

A/N: so what did you think? Give me reviews so I may know. Oh, and give me some song suggestions cause I also need those if I'm to keep my creativity going.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello again, how are you all doing? I know, I'm being absolutely dreadful with these updates but working nights as a foreman kinda drains all the life out of ya, and effectively kills your social life. Not that I had one to speak of but… you catch my drift. Thanks to Super-Kerei for suggesting 'Don't trust me'. Well, before I bore you anymore, let's get on with the story.

Disclaimer: Ouran and L.L. ain't mine… yet.

The world beyond the forest thaws,

A green field springing forth at snowmelts edge,

And the Great Beast dons a new coat.

'A solution he says' thought Haruhi as she gaped upwards in apprehensive wonder at the massive white building that in her mind appeared to loom over her. Not even the pictures that she'd been shown beforehand could have really prepared her for how she was feeling now, standing before the real thing. The place was like a freaking palace!

Glancing around she took in the pristine condition of the well kept grounds, the cleanly gleam of the few marble sculptures scattered here and about, the tailored uniforms of the other people passing by who kept casting questioning glances her way. Plucking subconsciously at her own hand-me-down sweater she felt more than ever that her being here was a colossal mistake. The place reeked of the stench of high bred wealth and she wondered to herself for the fourth- or was it fifth?- time just how far gone out his mind Uncle had been to ever believe that this insane plan could possibly work.

'_Truly'_ she thought, lifting her eyes back up to stare at the multitude of windows that seemed to stare back, '_his minds' so far gone its surely broken out of orbit.'_

And where did that leave her, the one who'd finally agreed to go along with this hair brained scheme?

"-ka? Fujioka?!"

Haruhi snapped back to awareness when she realized someone was calling her name and turned her attention to the slightly impatient man waiting on the steps leading up into this impressive structure.

"Coming, Mr. Heeji!" she replied as she hurried towards him, recalling her first encounter a few days ago with the man who was going to make what should have remained her Uncle's impossible fantasy (and understandably what she could only presume as her own impending nightmare) into a reality.

* * *

They were both in the kitchen, stashing away the various items and groceries from their latest shopping trip, when somebody knocked on the front door.

"That must be him" her Uncle whispered quickly, moving towards the front door. Haruhi, mystified at who this specific 'him' was, sent him a questioning glance that he returned with a look that said 'you'll find out soon enough' as he opened the door.

"Welcome", he said, his face lighting up with a broad grin as he stepping back to admit a man of medium height and build, with dark hair and skin the color of toasted bread. The man was dressed in a blue-grey business suit and carried with him a small black suitcase. While the man shook hands with her Uncle and exchanged his own greetings Haruhi sniffed lightly at the air, letting the strangers scent fill her nostrils, and realized at least one thing.

The man was human.

The sound of her sniffing was probably what alerted him that there was someone else in the kitchen because the man's eyes immediately swept across the room until they finally locked on her. Was it just her imagination or did he just stiffen? His eyes, a dark shade of brown flecked with green, kind of like fresh leaves on wet earth, seemed to flash with surprise as he stared at her for a bare moment with something akin to disbelief. The look quickly vanished from his face though as he blinked and looked at her more closely. Before she had time to decipher his odd behavior he was stepping into the kitchen, moving towards her.

"You must be Miss Fujioka." The man said holding out his hand. "My name is Heeji, Heeji Takuma. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Fujioka-san."

"Please, call me Haruhi" She replied, cautiously extending her own hand into his. "I'm afraid to say that I wasn't aware until just now that we were expecting a visitor over so I haven't anything to offer right at the moment, but if you give me a few minutes I can have something made. Would you prefer tea or coffee, Mr. Heeji?"

"Please, call me Takuma. Calling me 'Mr.' makes me feel older than I should be. Tea would be fine and thank you for your hospitality" he said, smiling as he nodded his head before turning back to Uncle who led him into the living room. Several minutes later Haruhi stepped into the living room with a tray in hand and moved over to the table where the two men were exchanging a few pleasantries and questions about their mutual trips. Setting the tray down, she poured the tea into her newly purchased cups and served them out before settling down in her place.

"Well now", Takuma started, pausing only to take a sip of his tea. "Since we're all gathered now, let's see if we can delve straight into the heart of the matter. From what I've come to understand, Miss Haruhi here" he said, inclined his head towards her, "is seeking a sort of daytime asylum within the walls of Ouran, is that not correct?"

Haruhi, thoroughly startled at the topic of Ouran being brought up, focused more intently on the man while Uncle nodded his head. She felt a tingle of suspicion stir somewhere in the back of her mind as she wondered just who this man was- and more importantly how much he knew.

"That's right" her Uncle replied. "As the current situation stands, I'm being required to take a leave of absence with an uncertain time frame. Regrettably I'm unable to take my niece with me. That being the case, I wanted to take care of as many things as necessary to settle her in before I left."

"I see. But of all places, why did you choose Ouran? Not that I'm complaining or anything but surly there were other places you could have considered?"

"Well, I wanted to be careful, and all those other places I could have chosen lack one important factor- you, Takuma."

"Ah, of course… Now I grasp your reasoning." Takuma replied, pausing to take another sip of his tea.

Burning with curiosity Haruhi couldn't stop herself from speaking out. "Um, excuse me, but, why is Mr. Hee- uh, Takuma, an important factor? Just who exactly are you, sir?"

Takuma shot a slightly peeved glance at her uncle before setting down his cup to answer her.

"So your uncle hasn't told you, has he?"

"No sir. Frankly, I only heard about Ouran itself for the first time only two days ago, and of it I know very little. Uncle hasn't bothered to elaborate on anything."

"So after all these years he hasn't changed at all then, eh?" Haruhi felt herself smiling in agreement and Takuma chuckled lightly while Uncle suddenly found the flowery detail on his cup distinctly fascinating.

"Well my dear, before I go on about myself, can you tell me what you do know about Ouran?"

"I know that it's a private institution. That means it's probably high class right?"

Takuma snorted with suppressed laughter. "That would be a definite understatement. But essentially, yes, that's exactly what it is. Ouran is a school reserved near-only for the ridiculously wealthy, a place where a persons' value is based first upon their lineage and second on how many thousands their family makes in a week. It's a place where the children of nobles, politicians and major corporation owners- basically all the people who have a hand in running the country- send their children to learn how to take over their respective businesses and such. It's not just a private Institution- it's _the_ private institution. It's the nursery grounds of the elite. And I'm the one that going to get you in there."

Haruhi was stunned. As the implications to everything Takuma said swirled madly around her head she felt the blood drain out of her face. Her insides twisted up into a mangled knot and an increasingly heavy sensation alight itself on her body and continue to weigh down on her. She had to clutch at the table when the world started to spin.

"W-w-what-" she stuttered out hoarsely, surprised in herself that she even had the ability to speak. "What- do you mean- get me in? If that's the kind of place Ouran is- how can you even think that I could get by there? Are you completely crazy?! Whom am I going to fool into believing that I belong there?!"

Haruhi went off with a litany of reasons why such a mad scheme wouldn't work, sticking in an occasional implication of their apparent insanity every now and then. Takuma though didn't seem to take any offense to the doubt directed at his capabilities nor his sanity, choosing rather to quietly drink his tea during her rant, waiting until she finally ran herself down. When she finally reached the point where she was left heaving for air he poured himself another cup before he turned to her again with a kindly smile.

"Did you get all out?" he asked her. Haruhi nodded meekly, a blush blazing across her face; she felt absolutely mortified at having gone off like that to someone she'd only just met.

"Good then. So let's address your primary concerns. First off, I want you to know that in all likelihood I probably am completely crazy but for all intents and purposes I am also completely content with my current state of mind. Second, despite my apparent instability it is indeed possible to get you placed within Ouran."

"How? Am I going to be hired as a maid or something?" she asked, curious despite her embarrassment, and despite the desire not to have them go any further in this direction.

"No no! Nothing of the sort! We're trying to get you in as a student not set you up for a job, remember. The concept's actually fairly simple my dear. Remember what I just said about Ouran- about their value in lineages?

Haruhi nodded, not sure what he was getting at. All her life she'd been brought up in a middle-class family- hardly what you could consider the crème de la crème of society, and she was positive that was all a place like Ouran would accept.

Tukuma grinned leaning forward conspiratorially, and Haruhi found herself mirroring his actions. Then he spoke in a hushed tone, whispering as if someone besides the three of them could possibly hear what he was about to say. "Well my dear, let's just say that there are some who attend there that hold a special interest towards more… '_Particular_' lineages- that is to say, Ouran is a place that isn't strictly limited to what society would term '_Normal'_ people. Say, perhaps, those whose very existences are considered beyond '_Normal'_…"

Takuma trailed off while Haruhi tried to work out the meaning behind his words. A second later a light came on in her head. '_It couldn't be- surly he isn't suggesting that-'_

Takuma saw the dawning look of comprehension that spread over Haruhi's face and leaned back, laying his palms out straight, a smile playing across his face.

"That's right Haruhi. Ouran isn't just a school exclusively for the human elite- it's also serves as a secret haven for the precious children born of a very specific group- a very specific people… Your people, Haruhi..."

"The Blood Tribe of the Beasts…" Haruhi breathed out into the sudden silence.

Although she'd already suspected it, having it confirmed that the man before her knew not only about the Blood Tribe but her connection to it as well was still a shock. More shocking however was what he was actually saying. That there was a haven for the Blood Tribe- A place for others like her- For those born both human and beast- right dab in the middle of Tokyo… It was too incredible to believe! Haruhi could only stare in wonder as she contemplated this remarkable revelation. Then a wave of excitement and bubbly glee started to rush throughout her entire body. The idea that she would get to meet with others of her own kind- her own people…

The wave of excitement broke and all the bubbles popped as that happy concept came under the scrutiny of her mind and an ugly, unwanted realization came to the forefront. Haruhi bowed her head, biting her lip as spirit fell.

'_No, I can't meet with them… they might be of the Blood Tribe but we aren't the same… they aren't __**truly**__ my people… and if any of them find out what I really am…who I belong to…' _Huruhi felt her eyes begin to burn but she held back the hot tears, even though all she wanted, really, was to just let them come… to let them fall and then howl at the top of her voice at the sheer injustice of it all.

It just wasn't fair! For the first time in years the hope that she might meet with others like her had been dangled in front of her face like a tantalizing steak and she couldn't bite at it. She didn't dare. Not only because she feared springing the unseen trap that was surely there, but because she feared that the steak she longed to bite would turn out to be poisoned…

…Or perhaps even more cruelly, that it wasn't poisoned but would eventually sour within her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Takuma" she whispered in a slightly hoarse voice, overcome with emotion. "I can't possibly go there- not even if there are other's like me. No, rather, it's because there **are** others like me who'll be there that I can't go. I can't- the thing is I just can't let anyone know what I am- not even those who happen to tread within the same forest…"

She stopped, unable to go on. What more could she say? Through the hair hanging down in her face she thought she saw him stir and was surprised a moment later when he suddenly took hold of both her hands and cradled them within his. She looked up, seeing the downward curve of his mouth and the sadness that touched his eyes.

"I understand." He said, gently running his thumbs over the top of her hands. "Believe me I truly do understand your situation. But Haruhi, you must remember that as long as you remain in Tokyo not only will you need a convincing cover story to explain why you're living here alone, you will also need someplace secure that you can go to- a place where those who've made it their obsession to seek out your people can't penetrate- and despite the risk, Ouran remains the best option you have right now. And as far as not having others know about you…" his hands stilled and he glanced over briefly at her Uncle before he turned back to her.

"…If you don't want anyone to know who you or your relations are, then we simply won't tell anybody. Largely the reason why your Uncle chose Ouran was because I'm stationed there. You see Haruhi, I happen to possess a certain knack with handling information. Actually, it is a distinguished talent that I've spent years cultivating, a tool for an art form upon which I excel above others, an unparalleled ability so distinctly refined-"

"He's a hacker." Her uncle stated bluntly, cutting Takuma off. Takuma gave him a waspish glare before letting out a small '_hmph!_' and turning back to Haruhi.

"As that unsophisticated boob over there put non to gently (At this her Uncle returned his own heated glare) I am a hacker. But!" he said hurriedly, seeing the doubt that must have showed on her face. "I am nothing like those amateurs you hear about on the news! As I was saying before, within this specific field I have virtually no equal! With the stash of equipment I've been granted to use by those I work for, I can slip into our governments' files and access the family registry system. From there I can rewrite, or in the case of those belonging to the Blood Tribe, completely fabricate another person's entire personal history. I could give a drifter with no past a record that would say that he's resided for all his life at a specific residence that had otherwise been abandoned for just as long. It is no joke when I say that I have a talent so incredible-"

"-That he could turn a pauper into a king." Her uncle finished, sighing with an air of impatience yet his eyes twinkled with a knowing humor. Moving his gaze onto Haruhi he went on.

"As is common with our people, most of us who choose to wander into human society have no provable record of our existence. It literally appears as if we've popped out of nowhere- which is dangerous since it's those kind of people that our enemies tend to check into first, searching for our kind among the small mass of people who reintegrate themselves into society in the hopes of ferreting us out. Takuma is among a handful of humans with his skill who have pledged their allegiance to the Blood Tribes, but unknown to his colleges or the other tribes, Takuma also acts as a secret agent for **our** own tribe. Without him, our little colony might have been found out years ago."

Haruhi, in utter disbelief, turned wide eyes onto Takuma who smiled warmly at her.

"Years ago" he said, taking on a storytellers air, "there was a certain bothersome brat who liked to use his talents as a hacker to do nothing but break into places where he didn't belong. He go in, rearrange some company's personal data and rewrite a few people's schedules and then sit back while he watched the mayhem unfold as companies went haywire and the important people who could have solved the problems were trapped on flights taking them out of the country. He was a meddler who couldn't keep to his own business. And he enjoyed it."

"One day, while he was surfing the net for a new target, he stumbled across a secret database holding a list of names, various animal species and the addresses of people that belonged to an organization held by the Blood Tribes. Before he had time to realize just what exactly he had found though, someone had tracked his signal and in a matter of minutes a squad of men were breaking through his apartment door and hauling him off into the back of a black van. They took him to a cabin somewhere off into some woods near Tokyo where he met the very people he'd learned about mere hours before."

"At first they talked amongst themselves, debating on whether to kill him, since they were initially surprised at how young he actually was, and then on just how to dispose of the body in such a way so that no one could ever find his remains. Surely, the young man thought, this was the end. Just as they were about to act on their decision though a woman showed up- a woman with large beautiful brown eyes, long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and who wore the kindest smile the boy had ever seen."

A shiver ran up Haruhi's spine at the familiarity of the description and she felt a lump form in her throat.

"Whereas all the others had reached the mindset to send this young man off on an early trip to the grave this woman, an angel delivered unto him in his darkest moment, pleaded with the others to spare him, pointing out his skill and convincing them that letting him live under their watch would be to their benefit. In the end they agreed. A short time later, after they'd fitted him with a collar and placed him within their network of information manipulators, this young man discovered that his savior, who'd become his most valued friend, belonged to a family that wasn't quite 'socially' accepted among the others. She'd risked herself by walking amongst those that would literally tear her apart to try and cover up their identities. Remembering how she had come to him in his time of need, he repaid her a little by giving her what she'd strived for most at that time."

Takuma sighed, removing his hands from hers as he leaned back with his eyes closed.

"If the young man were completely honest he might have admitted to himself that he was smitten over her, even though she already had a dedicated husband and a child, a darling little girl. Nevertheless, the woman had the young man's eternal gratitude and he'd wanted nothing more than to continue helping her in any way he could… her and any of her loved ones. He swore on his very life to uphold this duty."

Takuma opened his eyes again and Haruhi could see a glimmer in his eyes.

"So Haruhi, will you allow that foolish lad to uphold his pledge? Will you give him a chance?"

There was a moment of still silence before Haruhi nodded her head mutely. Reaching across the table she took his hands in hers and it was only then that she realized that both her cheeks were wet.

* * *

Haruhi came back to the present as Takuma stopped in front of a tall door with a metal plate engraved with his name on it. Slipping out a key Takuma unlocked the door and then led her into classroom- A very ordinary looking classroom. After all the other things she seen of this place that had positively screamed out their overly expensive price-tags she was a little surprised to find herself in a room that appeared so- well, middle-class. Takuma chuckled and she turned to see him standing behind a desk, his eyes alight with amusement as he watched.

"If you're wondering where the lounge chairs and hand carved desks are at try A-class. You won't find them in here since this is only a D-classroom, after all."

"A and… D-class?" Haruhi asked, completely baffled.

"Ah, that's right, you wouldn't know", said Takuma as he sat down in his black swivel chair. "At least one of the things you're sure to hate about this place is how they segregate people here. Here at Ouran a person is placed in one of four classes, ranking in alphabetical order from A to D, based upon two things- their lineage and their grades. D-class, in that aspect, is thus mostly comprised of yakuza children. "

"That seems kind of… wrong." Haruhi said, completely agreeing with Takuma's earlier assessment on her opinion to such a setup.

He shrugged "That's just how it is. And since you'll need to keep as a low a profile as possible this is where you'll be placed."

"So then- does that mean that others- like me- are going to be in this class?" Haruhi asked, glancing at all the unoccupied desks.

Takuma sent her a level look. "Perhaps… remember, however, that there is more than one D-class, so the others' may all be in other classrooms. Another thing you should consider is that not all of your people are restricted to D-class- some, even, have managed to infiltrate as far as A-class. You mustn't forget that there are those of the Blood Tribe that have been integrated within human society and playing its games for generations upon generations, and that some have managed to acquire quite a bit of wealth and status along the way. How else do you think a place such as Ouran became a haven for them in the first place?"

Haruhi turned her full attention back to him as he began to rummage around in the lower drawer of his desk until he pulled out an orange plastic medicine bottle filled with little white pills. Shutting the drawer he placed the bottle square in the middle of the desk, leaving only one finger placed on top of the cap.

"As we discussed before, you agreed to coming here under the condition that no-one, not even the members of your own kind, would know about you. Understandably, this would have been complicated by the simple fact that you can smell each other. And that, my dear, is where these come in handy to prevent such a complication."

"What exactly is it" she asked, reaching for the bottle.

"Curare."

Haruhi snatched back her hand and drew back an involuntary step, her nostrils flared in disgust. Curare was a vile substance to her people. Takuma noted at her reaction and sighed before taking the bottle up into his hand.

"I can understand your distaste." He said, twirling the bottle in his hand. "Curare _**is**_ after all a powerful paralysis drug which, unfortunately, has been used by your enemies against your kind far too often in the past. To you, its name is synonymous with death. But please, trust me when I tell you that this is the answer to disguising your nature."

"You see, in the past I've had more than one student of your kind come through who in the beginning would have a considerable difficulty controlling themselves around other people. It was feared that the slightest comment would set them off and they'd start to metamorphose. To avert that from happening, your people started searching for a quick fix and realized that small amounts of curare were sufficient in preventing sudden metamorphosis from occurring while not having those who took it appear doped up. It deadened all the senses but, if they needed to, they could force past the numbing effects with ease and launch into their second forms."

"There is, however, an additional side effect not commonly known that they discovered with its use. This is where its usefulness will apply to you. While on the drug, your identifying scent will be suppressed to the point that to anyone else you'll smell completely human. If you take just two pills a day, one in the morning and another at lunch, you'll be able to attend here virtually unnoticed."

Haruhi stared distrustfully at the bottle for a second longer before reaching out again and taking it from him. Popping the lid she took out one of the little white pills and glared at it as if it had personally offended her.

"You're sure that it won't make a mess out of me?" she asked.

"If you were human you'd get pretty jacked up. But, since that's not the case, you'll be completely fine. Although, you did remember to bring those glasses, didn't you?"

"Yea?" she said, withdrawing a case from her back pocket. The glasses had apparently belonged to her grandfather and had been in storage for years ever since she'd left Tokyo.

"Very good. As I told you before, the curare deadens all your senses so that they remain level with that of an ordinary human. This also includes your eyesight. I'm not saying you'll _**need**_ them, precisely, but they're there just in case your eyesight turns out to be worse for a human."

"Alright then," she said, tossing the pill into her mouth and swallowing it before she could reconsider, "when does class start?"

"In about another thirty minutes", he said, grinning as got up from his seat to collect all the school books she'd need for her first day.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it. Not as much action as I'd initially hoped for but informative enough that any of the confused can at least grasp at some notion of understanding. And hey, at least I got that silly girl to go to school. ^.^ don't be afraid to comment and remember, I need songs! Flames warm the body, but music soothes the soul. Chow.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: and we're back again. Or at least, I am anyways. The song I chose to listen to while writing this was 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen. Seriously, I thought the song fit Haruhi perfectly. (laughs) Also, as a reminder, **anybody** can comment so don't be shy. Even if it's just the title of a song I'll take it. Comments show that you care.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran or Lycanthrope Leo terminology

A brisk breeze traveling through the air,

Sweet with spring fragrance and,

A foreign scent mingled within it.

Haruhi was thoroughly pissed.

"_Four god damn libraries,"_ she thought angrily as she stomped up a flight of stairs to the top floor. _"and the place is __**still**__ too crowded! I mean, if you don't want to study then just go home!"_

Her current irritation was but the latest infraction on her concept of sensibility that Ouran had thrown at her. Virtually everything about the school made her want to grind her teeth in frustration. Two weeks had passed since the first day she'd started attending and Haruhi could say quite honestly that there still wasn't a single thing she'd yet found to like about the place.

On her first day, right after introducing herself to her new classmates they had made it clear that they, like her, felt she didn't belong. Even before she'd sat down she'd begun hearing giggles and snide remarks whispered behind her back, felt the dirty looks being sent her way. She would have bolted right then and there if she hadn't forced herself to remain seated. For those first eight hours it had been like being trapped in a cage with no bars. She did her best to ignore the others, to convince herself that their opinions didn't mean anything to her. She tried to let it appear as if their attitude didn't bother her at all.

She'd failed miserably, but god knows she'd tried.

Normally she wouldn't have cared what these privileged snobs thought about her, but, when you had that many people looking at you like you were gutter trash it was a little hard not to feel self-conscious. Takuma tried to be supportive, encourage her to stay strong, but sometimes that wasn't always enough. The fact was she just felt like anything she did fell under their criticism. Whether it was her cheap clothes (unavoidable, since she wasn't about to pay $3,000 for a uniform), the fact that she brought in a home-made obento (Like hell she'd pay that much for a single lunch!), or that she had such an obviously common background (So she was born with a wooden sampler spoon in her mouth, get over it!) nothing she did met their standard of approval. She was beneath them and they weren't above rubbing the fact repeatedly into her face.

And that had only been the first day. Over the next two weeks things had seemed to mellow out to the point where she didn't feel like cringing every time she walked through a door. She wasn't accepted, probably never would be, but neither was she as openly shunned as she had been that first day.

That is, until this morning.

Stepping through the door into first period, right off the bat Haruhi had felt the tension permeating within the classroom wash over her like a wave. Stiffening at the sensation, feeling even the little hairs on her skin stand up, she'd quickly scoped out the room and noticed that a large portion of the people present were clustered into a small group over by the opposite wall. Wondering what was going on, Haruhi had moved towards the group to see what they were looking at. As she got closer she noticed several of her classmates turn abruptly away as soon as they saw her. For some reason this made her edgy.

When she was right at the back of the group Haruhi had to peer over the head of a shorter brunette in front of her to see a sheet with a list of names had been tacked onto the wall. Written at the top in bold black print were the words "Monthly Grading Results." Beneath that, at the top of the list her name was written in the number one spot.

"Oh, I made top score." She stated out loud, though mostly to herself.

She was alarmed then when the group in front of her, suddenly alerted to her presence, spun around to see her standing there before as one they all scrabbled away from her as quickly as they could. The girl that had been standing in front of her had, in her haste to get away, stumbled to the ground with a yelp. As Haruhi reached down automatically to help her back up the other girl had let out a shriek.

"No! Don't touch me! I have no connection to you at all!" She cried out as she scuttled like a yellow colored crab as fast as she could to the other side of the room.

Haruhi had stood rooted to the spot, frozen in shock as she stared dumbfounded after the girl as she made her awkward escape.

'_What in the hell-?_' she thought before the bell suddenly rang and Takuma walked in, followed immediately by a throng of students trying to get to their seats before roll call started.

"All right, that was the last bell, everyone to their seats- You too Fujioka."

Haruhi quickly moved into her seat and started pulling out her textbooks and pencils. As she was doing this, though, she'd stretched her hearing out and started listening very carefully to what the others around her were saying. Sure enough, she was rewarded as bits and pieces of whispered conversation started flying through the air as the rumor mill started up again.

"…see the score…"

"…Fujioka made first place this time…."

"…How the hell-! Its' only been two weeks…"

"…must be out of his mind…"

"…ya thinks gonna happen?"

"…as good as a challenge…"

"…the human blizzard will…"

"…kinda sorry for the poor…"

"…death…"

"…don't want a misunderstanding…"

"…new guys dead meat…"

"…should stay away…"

"…get sent to the grave with that commoner…"

"…When Kasanoda finds out…"

'Kasanoda?', Haruhi thought, frowning as she slightly angled her head to glance back out of the corner of her eye at a boy with shoulder length red hair and a really aggressive face. He was bent over his desk, scratching out notes with one hand while absorbed in the lecture Takuma was giving on the social structure of Japan during the Edo Period. She recalled seeing him a few times before but she'd never really paid any attention to him. He always seemed to be off by himself. She studied him for a minute before turning her full attention back to Takuma with a small shrug. If the guy had a problem with her being top in class, so be it. It's not like it was going to be any concern of hers.

Or so she'd thought.

Later, as the day progressed, more and more outrageous rumors kept making their way to her ears, each one more preposterous then the last. One rumor claimed that when Kasanoda had found out about the grades he'd flipped out and in his rage had struck one of their classmates who had to be sent to the hospital for emergency surgery. Most everyone else had suffered brief visions of their own grisly deaths when they'd looked into his eyes. Yet another had suggested that she herself, somehow conveniently unaffected by his deadly glare, had been taunting Kasanoda during class, sending him mocking smiles (something she'd been horridly embarrassed about since she'd thought she'd been discreet in observing him) which further infuriated him. The last in this particular sequence that truly shocked her for its sheer audacity announced that afterwards he'd spent the rest of the period writing a letter of challenge which, allegedly, she'd slapped out of his hand and spit on before walking away.

The whole thing was getting ridiculously out of hand. Haruhi was on the verge of saying something when she overheard several people start to place bets on her survival. One had wondered aloud how long it'd take before the Kasanoda Gang came and dragged her off to the nearest port when someone joked that concrete slippers would probably be the most valuable thing she'd ever receive. Another had jumped in and said they'd probably have a heck of a time finding her to see if they'd fit though since they'd have to scour the whole city just to find the cardboard box she holed up in. Haruhi turned away as they all howled with laughter and slipped down another hall before they'd seen her, biting her tongue to keep from screaming out in rage.

And everyone she passed made an effort to avoid her.

Reaching the last step on the stairs Haruhi strode forward on the landing before coming to a stop in front of a large paneled window. She peered through the glass and out across the grounds, letting her eyes travel over the blue tiled roofs and beyond the well tended lawn and several outdoor sports fields until her gaze finally came to rest on the line of whitish pink Sakura trees sprouting up at the edge of the school borders.

The trees, which appeared to have once started out as an orchard evenly spaced apart, sprawled out further away from the school, growing closer and closer to each other until they became so thickly entangled it eventually became impossible to separate one tree from another. Soon though, the whitish pink trees with their delicate petals collided unexpectedly into a densely clustered mass of varying hues of green, red and orange. Long needled pines intermingled with broad leafed maple took over where the Sakura ended and continued to expand onwards, growing lush and vast, disappearing further on into the distance. Birds flitted above on the highest branches, moving from tree to tree, their small bodies momentarily outlined by the sun dipping towards the horizon so they seemed like shadows dancing on a sea of green.

It was a forest- A beautifully glorious forest growing in a place where it never should have been, right in the middle of Tokyo city.

When she'd first laid eyes upon this incredible sight so close to the school Haruhi thought she'd been dreaming. Or perhaps maybe she'd overdosed on the curare. Yes, that had to be it. It would have been feasible, considering, but Takuma, who had brought her to the top floor after her first stressful school day had come to an end to show her this impossible miracle, had assured her that what she was seeing was indeed real.

Several years ago Tokyo, in an effort to secure a bid to host the Olympics in the year 2016, had formulated what was called 'the green Games plan'. The governor of Tokyo promised that in over a decades' time a 1000 hectares of green space would be added within the city in the form of parks, rooftop gardens and trees planted beside railway tracks. The schools chairman, enthusiastic about the prospect, convinced the school board to invest a proportional amount of time and money in converting the vast amount of unused grounds owned by the school. Drawing further inspiration from an architect named Tadao Ando and his 'Sea Forest', the chairman had proceeded to develop the grounds into a forest park. The entire area being planted with tens of thousands of trees along with numerous native floras and the installation of a network of free flowing ponds with various runoff points had transformed the landscape from a simply large field into thriving woodland. A herd of deer from the Nara prefecture had even been shipped over to provide this new environment with wildlife.

Since the area was still under development in several places to ensure its stability it was yet to be opened to the public but groups of supervised students were permitted during school hours to venture within to a certain point along one of the designated trails. Haruhi had avoided taking that path.

Even seeing the trees from up here she could already imagine herself walking amongst them, the smell of their heady aroma filling her lungs, hearing the leaves rustle with every draft that blew through the upper branches, feeling the coolness of hard packed earth underneath her naked feet... Her breath started coming faster and her heart beat harder, even painfully against her ribs, and with a visible effort she tore her eyes away from the forest that called to her, sang to her, beckoned her to escape within the comfort of its shadowy depths. Sucking in a deep breath she brought herself back under control. No, she didn't dare go into the forest or anywhere near it. She wasn't sure if she would ever leave if she did.

Besides, if there was a forest here then surely other members of the Blood Tribe were certain to venture there as well.

Moving a hand up to her forehead to massage some of the pain away from her developing migraine her finger tips touched the pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose and she felt the headache grow worse. Aside from all the nonsense she had to contend with from her classmates these glasses were perhaps the most hateful thing she'd endured since she'd started coming here.

Much like Takuma had predicted the curare had affected her eyesight horribly. Worse even than what was expected. Before, she could have read a book with small print from the other side of a room, but now, she could barely make out the words written on a chalkboard ten feet in front of her. Practically blinded now unless she wore them, the glasses were a constant insult to her dignity that she refused to forgive as they more than anything were the reminder of how weak she was under the curare's effect.

Growling softly under her breath Haruhi moved away from the window to continue her search for someplace quiet to work on this weekend's homework. Most of the rooms she'd already tried had either been occupied by people with their afterschool clubs or had been locked up. The apartment wasn't exactly an option right now. Truthfully, she found it was getting harder to even go back. Uncle had said that his trip could take a full month at most, and yes, it had only been two weeks since he left, yet still… it always hurt when she had to return and opened the door and realized that no one was there to welcome her home. It made her anxious when the time came for school to close.

Passing by several other classrooms she finally stopped in front of a door with a plaque over it with the words 'Third Music Room' written on it. This wasn't an exclusive classroom and when she didn't hear any music coming from the other side of the door Haruhi figured she'd found what she was looking for.

'_This will have to do. There shouldn't be anyone in here…_' she thought as she tried the handle, rejoicing when the door opened…

…before she was nearly mauled by a swarm of humongous pink flowers that came flying at her from out of nowhere. She threw up her hands to fend them off and was shocked when her hands merely passed through them and they suddenly disappeared. She was still trying to figure out what the heck had just happened when somebody spoke to her.

"Welcome!"

Standing before her were six other students- six _male_ students- six impossibly good-looking males, each one handsomely and stunningly beautiful. Haruhi felt her breath catch and had to grab at the doorframe as her heart nearly gave out on her. How- how could such attractive beings even exist!

Then all the feel-good emotions died off as two of them, who looked so much alike that they just had to be twins, took another look at her and with a 'HMPH!' proclaimed loudly "It's a **guy!!**"

'_Wait a minute- what!_' Haruhi pushed away from the door and turned back to stare incredulously at the pair.

All of them were still looking at her but not with the same intensity as when she'd first walked in on them. One of them, a blond with blue eyes and the only one seated in a chair, cast a reproving frown at the twins.

"Hey! Men are valuable patrons too, so stifle it." Turning his eyes back on to her he held out his hand with a smile and said, "Welcome to the Ouran Host Club. It's an absolute pleasure that you bestow upon our simple company a cherished token of your time Mr. - uh, um-", he faltered for a moment before donning an apologetic face and said, "- forgive me, but, it seems I have been remiss. Please, would you enlighten me with an answer—what was your name, again?"

'_None of your business_!', Haruhi thought, getting seriously freaked out about the bizarre situation she'd tumbled into, and was about to turn back and walk out the door when another one of them, a male with dark hair and sharp calculating eyes set behind a pair of glasses, stepped forward, pulling out a black file folder and opening it up.

"Haruhi Fujioka." He uttered her name, causing her to freeze tongue and body."Class D, First-year. He comes from an average middle class family, one with no notable ties or relations, who not long ago acquired a sizeable inheritance from a great aunt on the mother's side that passed away earlier this spring (_so that's the excuse Takuma made up for her_)- just recently he gained entrance to Ouran in High School. Physical features include messy brown hair, cheap clothing and an overall scruffy appearance. He's quiet, doesn't mingle much with his fellow classmates, and apparently friendless. According to the latest data, he's also become top in his class which has led to a suspected challenge from the heir of one of Tokyo's strongest Yakuza clans."

"Fascinating!" said the blond as the dark haired male finished up his report, standing up from his chair to walk over to her. "So what we have before us is a **Rare Creature** indeed."

"Huh? Um… I'm…", Haruhi wavered, finding she was at a loss as what to say next. Then the last bit of his sentence finally translated itself in her mind. '_Wait a minute- did he just call me a __**rare creature**__? Oh god no, does this mean that he's a… that he knows I'm a…'_

"A commoner!" he cried out, grabbing hold of both her shoulders. '_Huh?_'

"Yes," he said, draping an arm around her shoulder as another flurry of giant flowers and sparkling light popped out of nowhere. Haruhi discovered that the light and flowers were actually coming from a projector up in the ceiling before the blond boy continued speaking. "You've managed to work your way up in a short amount of time to become top in your class and now you face a perilous predicament with a low survival rate. And of course, you have no allies to help you because just about everyone despises your low status. Actually, fact is, **everyone** does!! There's nothing **wrong** with poverty, of course, nor the fact that you grew up in it. You're a **Crusader**, and a crusader only needs one thing—a **reckless heart!!**"

"No need to make… a big deal of it" she muttered quietly while inside she was praying for somebody, _anybody_, to shut this idiot up as he babbled on and on.

"Of course, we've heard the rumor you're a **man-lover**…"

Her head snapped up at this latest bit. "W-w-wot?!" she sputtered. "Man-lover?!'

"So, what is your type? Wild Man? Boy Lolita?" he continued as he gestured to the group still standing by the vacant chair. Then he ran his hand through his golden locks and leaned in closer. "Or…"

"…am I more your style?" He purred as he cupped her chin in his hand and brought his face right up to hers. Haruhi felt a shiver shoot up her spine as those blue eyes, bursting with sincerity, bored into her and she quickly shook off his hold on her as she back-pedaled away from him.

"No, it's not like that…" She felt a hand grab onto her arm and whirled around to find the smallest one in the group, someone that looked young enough to be a grade-schooler, staring up at her with awe. "Are you really a crusader, Haru?" he asked in a childish voice while tiny little flowers popped up into existence around his head. "Do you have tales of rescuing princesses? I love those!"

Haruhi temper snapped under the stress and she snarled at the boy. "Who you callin' Haru?!" she wrenched her arm away from him and stumbled back, trying to put as much distance between herself and these- _people_.

"Look I was just trying to find a quiet place!!" she said, her voice raised high with anxiety. "So, excuse me…" Her body suddenly collided with something behind her and she felt something near her elbow give way. She had only enough time to turn her head to see as a really expensive looking vase tip off the pedestal she'd bumped into and fall to the floor with a resounding crash that echoed throughout the room.

There was a moment of absolute still silence before one of the twins spoke up.

"Ooo… That vase was by RUNE. It was to be the featured item in the next school auction..."

Then the other one picked up where his twin left off. "…and the bidding for that piece was going to start at $80,000, but I don't think it'll fetch that now…"

Huruhi heard herself squeak in horror and her heart plummeted when she heard him say that. '_$80,000?!_'

"I… I'll pay for it!" she blurted out, wondering frantically to herself just how she was intending to pull that off.

"You bet you will, but how?!" said the first twin, as if reading her mind.

"You can't even spring for a school uniform. Then again, your family inheritance **could** cover at least **most** of the cost..." His twin finished.

Haruhi turned stiff at this statement. '_My inheritance… yeah, if I even had one! And I doubt Takuma can afford to pay off that much on a teachers' salary._' The situation was getting bad and Haruhi realized that her sham was about to be blown sky high. Thinking quickly to buy some time Haruhi burst out. "M-my family has nothing- absolutely nothing to do with this! The money isn't mine- It's theirs! And- and I'm not going to have them pay for something I broke!"

"Is that so…" said the dark haired spectacled male, turning to his blond companion who'd returned to his seat. "Well, Tamaki? How shall we handle this?"

The blond male- Tamaki- gave her a level look for a moment before letting out a small sigh. "Ah Fujioka, your decision to leave your family out of this is commendable. Still, you do owe us a pretty sum for the vase. Well then, Fujioka, are you familiar with the saying 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'? And this—'If you don't have the **cash**, pay with your **carcass'**?!", he said flashing her a smile filled with malice. "As of today and until your debt is fully paid off you're the Host Club's official Dog!!"

Invisible lighting crashed all around her and she felt her soul begin to escape her body. '_Dog… I'm a dog… Oh mother_…' she thought, '…_This is just too much!_'

The world was starting to crumble at her feet and she began to teeter when a pair of firm hands braced her from behind. Turning her head lightly she was confronted with a wall of man. The male holding her towered above her, staring down with questioning eyes and Haruhi felt herself inexplicably drawn into them. They were as black a slate and the sudden power she felt behind that intense stare, shadowed within those liquid depths, drew a gasp from her.

"I say, are you all right?" asked Tamaki and Haruhi snapped back into herself. Moving out of the tall males grip she put a hand to her face and said, "I think I'm going to faint."

"Oh really?" Tamkai said with a touch of concern in his voice as he stood up once more from his chair and moved towards her. Peering into her face he drew in a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. "I was going to have you stay and start working off your debt right away, but, I suppose learning that your body no longer belongs to you **is** a bit much to take in all at once… very well, I suppose there's no helping it then, now is there. Fujioka, you're dismissed, but remember-", he said, with a hint of warning. "-come Monday I want you back in this room right after classes end. All right, now go home and rest."

As she stumbled out of the music room Haruhi thought home was indeed possibly the most wonderful place she could be right now.

****

From one of the windows near the back of the club room the hosts watched as their commoner stumbled out the front entrance and made her way to the main gate.

"Do you think he'll make it home all right?" Tamaki asked, watching nervously as Haruhi weaved her way past the gate as if she was half drunk.

"Don't worry." Kyoya answered, adjusting his glasses as he turned away from the window. "I have Tachibana trailing after him. My man will watch him for the next few days and intervene if he thinks the commoner is about to take off or tries to off himself."

"I suppose that's all we can do then, eh." Tamaki replied as he and the others moved back into position to greet the first of their real customers for the session. Settling back into his seat he remembered something and turned to Kyoya. "That's right, how are all the details for the gathering next weekend?"

"So far we've received confirmation that seventy percent of the selected clientele have accepted our invitation. All the arrangements are being put in place and by Saturday everything should be in perfect running order. The weather reports it'll be a clear night."

Tamaki beamed with satisfaction. "Excellent. Gentlemen, come Saturday night we shall lead our lady guests through one of the schools most important social events of the year-- the Autumnal Equinox!! As we dance beneath the open sky, basked in the vibrant glow of the rising moon, it shall become a night I'm confident-," he said, turning as the door clicked and swept open.

"-they'll never forget." He finished softly, donning an inviting smile as the first small cluster of girls stepped excitedly into the room.

A/N: and that, my dears, concludes this chapter. Remember- Review!


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Holy crap, I'm Back! I'm currently watching an amv on Eden of the east with the song 'no Handlebars'. Plain Freaking Awesome.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, just the story itself.

She was in Takuma's classroom, seated on the spare chair in front of his desk. The rest of the class had already filed out at the bell to head to the cafeteria for lunch. Before he could slip away Haruhi had nabbed Takuma, telling him she had something to discuss with him privately. Perhaps he'd sensed the urgency in her voice because after the last student had left the room Takuma had swiftly locked the door behind them, much to her grateful relief. She'd been forced to wait the entire weekend and all morning to have this chance to speak with him. Friday afternoon he'd left the school right after classes to get to his other job, and, since Haruhi didn't have a phone nor a number, she'd had no way of contacting him.

An incredibly stupid oversight on their part.

Once the door was secured and Takuma back in his seat Haruhi dove straight into relating the incident that had occurred last Friday. The anxiety she was under was evident as the words tumbled out of her mouth one right after the other, spilling out in a barely structured rush as she tried to speak as fast as she could. Because of this, she was forced to repeat herself several times when she found herself speaking gibberish.

"…and that's what happened" she concluded finally.

Takuma was silent for several seconds before he leaned back with a sigh, tilting his head up towards the ceiling with his eyes closed. He chuckled dryly.

"Oh Haruhi… you've certainly gotten yourself into a splendid mess."

Haruhi turned her face down into her lap in shame. Takuma had gone through so much trouble to get her set up in the school, ensuring her safety and her secrecy, and she was repaying all his hard work by creating more difficulties for him. She truly was the worst for what she was about to ask of him next. Forcing herself to look back up at him she asked-

"Is there anything you can do about this- situation?"

Instead of answering her, Takuma got up out his seat and started to pace around the desks, moving in slow circles about the classroom. Haruhi watched silently with her eyes, waiting for him to speak. After about the third circuit around he walked over to the window nearest his desk and leaned onto the window sill, hands on the edge, and stared out over the grounds. He stood like that for a lengthy measure of time before he let out a long tired sigh.

"Oh bother- I'm just stalling, aren't I?" he said aloud. Shifting around, he leaned back into the ledge, crossing his arms and gave Haruhi a smile she could immediately tell was false. "I'm sorry, my dear, but I'm afraid my hands are tied- There is nothing I can do to resolve your crises."

Haruhi's shoulders slumped in response to his answer. She didn't bother to question why he couldn't help. She didn't need to. She'd already understood that it wasn't because of any lack of capability on his part; it was merely the complexity of her circumstances that hindered them. The unspoken facts were that the only way she could get out of becoming a slave for the host club was if either she somehow managed to procure the money needed to pay off her debt, or if she fled Tokyo. Neither at the moment was optional as she couldn't leave anywhere until Uncle returned and the only money she had was the necessary living expenses dispersed irregularly into her account.

She couldn't even get a job to help curb her debt because the rules of this lousy school forbade it.

She must have been a miserable sight because before she'd realized it Takuma had stepped away from the window and was kneeling on the ground before her, taking her hands in his.

"Are you all right, my dear?"

Haruhi gave him a weak smile and sighed. "I'm fine… I guess… part of me was just hoping there'd be a way out of this-- But of course there wouldn't be one. The only thing to do- the only thing I can do- is suck it up and try to accommodate myself to this bizarre arrangement I've landed myself into." She glanced away from him, her gaze slipping to the floor. "I'm sorry… I really am nothing but a burden for you, aren't I?"

Takuma raised a hand under her chin and forced her eyes back onto him. "Hush. That's a filthy lie and I won't hear of it- furthermore I won't let you say it. You are not a burden and I would prefer it if you cast that perception away immediately. It wounds me when you think like that."

He made an exaggeratedly sorrowful face and Haruhi laughed lightly. They were both quiet for a moment before Takuma spoke up. "If you want, I could send you home, claiming you were ill…" He trailed off, letting the offer hang in the air. Haruhi shook her head.

"No. If I go home, then I'll just be avoiding the problem at hand. Besides, if I do that those guys might see it as an escape attempt and unleash the hounds after me. Last thing I need is the police busting down my door and hauling me off to the big house." She sighed. "It's better if I just try to deal with it."

"Are you sure?" Takuma asked, studying her hands. Haruhi hummed agreement. "Then I insist that you take next period off to relax." He held up a hand as Haruhi started to protest. "It's for your own benefit. There's only one period of class left for today and then the last is a free period, which means that club will probably spend their time preparing for the next session. You probably realize this already but, those boys in the host club, they're…eccentric to say the least. No, that's being far too kind. Just trust me on this. After one club session with them you'll likely be bashing your head up against a wall."

Haruhi found she couldn't dissuade him from his decision and so with a note tucked safely in her back pocket excusing her from attending next period she strolled out of the classroom. She wandered around inside the building for a while, taking the chance to explore several hallways she hadn't been down yet, before she started feeling hopelessly confused and made her way to the nearest exit. Once she was outside she followed a cement path that eventually led her towards the outer edge of the sports fields. Just a little away from the fields the path ended before a large wooden building with a thatched roof. Moving around it she plopped down on a soft spot of grass and drew in a deep breath, tasting the flower scent hanging in the air, and gazed longingly at the Sakura tree's way on the other side.

As she watched all the top most branches suddenly started to sway as a strong wind blew up from behind, coming from beyond the forest. A wave of white detached itself from the trees as the breeze tore through them, plucking delicate cherry petals off their stems and carried them high up into the blue abyss of the sky. Haruhi sat mesmerized as the cloud of white drifted closer towards her, sprinkling the fields in white as it went as the petals fluttered gracefully back to earth. It looked so much like snowfall; a breathtaking beauty, pure and untainted, yet fleeting after only a brief appearance. Like a transient vision stolen from a fantasy- something much closer to a partially remembered dream than anything that touched upon reality.

It reminded her of the village.

Haruhi felt her mood sour as soon as the thought crossed her mind and she fell back onto the grass, throwing an arm up over her face to shield her eyes from the sun.

The village- a place she had only set foot into once during her life, long ago when her mother was still alive, and the last one on earth anybody in her small family had ever wanted to return to. She only had bits and pieces of memory pertaining to that place but those telltale fragments all carried the same impression within them- a bleak, oppressive loneliness bordered within a world of soundless white. Back in those early days the only reason they went there - they being her mother and Uncle since after that first time she was never granted access again- was because of a sense of obligation that tied them to it. Much like it should have tied her.

But it didn't.

Uncle had left more than two weeks ago to return to the village. Presuming the difficulties of travel had been minimal, he should have arrived there by now… or at the very least was waiting at the designated checkpoint for someone to come and escort him into the village. This was one of the measures the Elders had put in place to keep the village safe. The biggest downside to this approach, though, was that it could take forever before anyone actually bothered to come. Haruhi shivered, recalling the long cold days she and her family had spent during the dead of winter within that broken down rickety old shack that served as the checkpoint. It had been one of the most unfavorable experiences she'd ever endured in her young life.

Still, it was better to go it this way- infinitely better. Better anyways than meeting up with one of the guards who patrolled the vast expanse of forest her kin resided within. She prayed that Uncle wouldn't lose his patience waiting and that after this business with the Elders was complete his return would be quick.

'_Assuming they let him leave'_ a voice growled treacherously somewhere in the back of her mind.

Haruhi tried to brush the thought off like it was dirt off her clothing, but like dirt it clung persistently to her. And why shouldn't it? The honest truth was it was a worry that had been cultivating in the back of her mind, gnawing incessantly at her optimism, ever since he'd first informed her he was going back. After her mother had passed away the Elders had ordered him to remain within the village- an order that he'd defied by leaving anyways, fleeing into the night with her and her father without a single backward glance.

Going against an Elders command was considered a transgression against the village itself. Upon his return Uncle _would_ be punished for his disobedience. It wasn't a question of if they would, only how. And in the deepest part of her heart, though it shamed her, the fear she had lay not in what they might do to him physically but in that the Elders would see no fault in keeping him detained there as the penalty for his desertion.

Uncle had promised her a month. The problem was he failed to realize it was a promise that he didn't have a say in keeping.

Haruhi sighed heavily. This wasn't how she was supposed to be spending her free time. Drawing in a deep breath she started doing her breathing exercise, imagining all of the things that were beyond her control getting blown away like petals in the wind with every exhale until her mind was completely clear. In the midst of her exercise her body settled into comfortable relaxation. The sun was shining brightly above her, the heat making her drowsy. Haruhi was contemplating about taking a short nap when the sound of crunching grass snapped her back to full attention.

In the blink of an eye she was on her feet, turning just in time to see two people swiftly appear not eight feet away from her as they rounded the corner of the building. She cursed herself for letting anybody get that close without noticing. If she'd had full use of her senses they wouldn't have made it even eighty feet without her knowing about it.

Damn curare.

The moment they saw her they came to an abrupt halt and Haruhi allowed herself that moment to study the pair. The both of them were male, dressed in the high schools uniform, one with light brown hair that grew down to the neck while the other had spiky short hair and multiple ear piercings1. With a start Haruhi recalled that she'd seen both of them in her class. An aura of doom hung over them and even as Haruhi contemplated on what to say the one with long hair smirked and stepped forward.

"Well, well" he said moving until he was only a few feet away from her, which was too close for her. "Lookie what we've found here- it's the schools infamous commoner."

Haruhi felt her face flush and she glared angrily at the boy, her lips slightly curling back to bare her teeth. Would the bastards never drop it?!

"Careful man", said spiky as he came up behind his companion. "He looks like he might bite."

'_Well there's an idea'_ Haruhi thought. Instead she gritted out, "What do you want? I've done nothing wrong."

"Well now, that a matter of perspective, don'cha think?" said Longhair as he dropped the smirk. "After all, ya did manage to snatch the highest score, didn't ya?"

"What-" she started to ask when suddenly the boy moved and before she could react Haruhi was shoved against the building, the impact causing pain to rocket up and down her spine. Through eyes blurring with pain she looked up to find Longhair glowering down at her with an arm resting outstretched on the part of the wall next to her head. Spiky followed up to stand beside him, a near identical scowl on his face.

"Tell me short shit" the boy sneered in her face "just how stupid are ya? Do ya even realize just how much trouble yer actions have landed the rest of us in?"

"What- do you mean?"

"I'm talking about Kasanoda, Dumbass!" Longhair snapped, making her flinch.

"Until you came along Kasanoda always held the top grade in class. It was an unspoken fact that if ya didn't want to die ya didn't try to outdo him. But now that you've gone and surpassed him, there's no tell'n what he'll do. The guy can kill just by lookin' at ya! Do ya see now the danger you've put us all in Fujioka?" Longhair said, spitting her name out like it was something nasty.

Haruhi stared up at him, her mouth hanging slightly open in disbelief. Then the gist of everything the boy had said finally sunk in and she started to tremble as raw anger boiled up within her. The bastards were ganging up on her because she'd done her homework and gotten a better grade than somebody else? Better than this Kasanoda? '_Of all the stupid, presumptuous, arrogant…!'_ She was caught between mentally berating them and digging her nails painfully into the palms of her hands to keep herself from lashing out that she almost missed what Longhair said next.

"So, since we don't want anybody gett'n hurt, I suggest you be a good boy and-"

And with that, the last of her reservations snapped.

From day one she'd put up with all the crap that this school and its people had thrown at her but this was the final straw. The camel's back had finally broken. As all her rage bubbled up from her core, spilling into her veins, her eyesight tinged with red and she started to shake. Longhair was still talking but she couldn't hear another word over the increasing thrum of her own blood filling her ears. The world was starting to come into a sharper focus, her whole body was tense and as small pains began to riddle her body she realized she was dangerously on the verge of turning.

She also realized she didn't care.

"Hey!" Longhair snapped. "Are ya even listening to me, ya little-"

Crack!

Everything seemed to freeze as the sharp sound of something breaking suddenly cut Longhair off. Glancing up the three of them saw a bokutō embedded in the wall above their heads. Following the length of the wooden sword, they all turned their heads to see a young man dressed in a jacket and hakama looming over all of them. With a start, Haruhi recognized him as one of the guys she'd seen at the host club last Friday- the tallest one.

"M-m-Morinozuka?" Longhair squeaked in a tremulous voice, and Haruhi's eyes flickered back to her assailants to see that both boys had gone perceptibly pale. With a tug, the tall male pulled the sword out of the wall and the boys quailed under the action. Longhair broke out into a cold sweat and Spiky started gulping nervously as he hefted the sword up to rest against his shoulder, staring down at them quietly with unforgiving eyes. Looking into those dark orbs she shivered when she felt the same potent strength shifting behind them as before.

"Morinozuka-sempai", Longhair tried again "this- this isn't what it looks like- we were just- that is to say, we only-"

Whatever he was about to say next never made it past his lips as all the strength left him and his body slackened when those black eyes and their unbearable scrutiny fell on him. In a flash Spiky suddenly grabbed Longhair by the jacket and bolted, hauling his companions limp form behind him. Haruhi stood staring after the pair as they made their hasty retreat, wondering what the heck had just happened when a grunt made her turn back to the tall male- Morinozuka wasn't it?- to see him watching her.

"You alright?" he asked in a deep voice colored with concern. Seeing the same concern reflected in those eyes, those impossibly dark eyes centered solely upon her, and feeling the absolute sincerity behind both caused an unexplainable rush of warmth to blossom within her chest. This was the first hint of kindness she'd received from anybody besides Takuma in this school. At that moment, she honestly felt like she could cry. Aware that he was waiting for an answer she quickly batted down the desire and pulled herself back together to reply.

"Um-yes. Thank you." She said hesitantly, cursing the unintentional stiff tone invading her voice. She wanted to say more, to let him know just how much she appreciated his help, but she kept drawing up a blank on what to say next.

There was a small pause of silence before Morinozuka simply nodded his head once before turning and walking towards the back end of the white building. Haruhi watched him go until he turned the corner. A part of her wanted to follow after him. Instead, she turned the other way and ran back up the cement path towards the school, her mind overrun by an onslaught of questions she just couldn't find the answers to.

* * *

"Where will you take me for the summer Tamaki?" The girl asked inquisitively.

"Wherever you wish to go…" the blond boy implied softly.

"What's your favorite kind of music?"

"Whatever you like, I like…" he breathed suggestively.

"I baked a cake today. Will you have a piece?"

"Only if _You_ feed it to me." He whispered seductively, bringing his face up close to the girl's as she blushed and giggled shyly, sparkling CGI flowers blooming gracefully around the pair.

Haruhi felt one of her eyebrows twitch and she quickly shifted her attention towards the twins as one of them gave a shout.

"Hikaru!! How could you tell that story in front of everyone?" Said the one twin looking genuinely distraught as tears began to leak out the corners of his eyes.

"Sorry, Kaoru…" Said Hikaru, face wholly apologetic, rising smoothly up from his seat until he was elevated above Kaoru. Then, reaching out to cup his twin's face with both hands and tilt it up, he leaned down until their noses were nearly touching.

"…You're just so adorable when you're pitiful…"

"Hikaru…!!" Kaoru cried out, tears streaming freely down his face as more CGI flowers swirled softly about their heads.

As the girls they were with squealed in open delight Haruhi felt a quiver of disgust run up her spine.

"How soppy can you get?" she said aloud, thinking that all these guys were in a world of their own.

"We simply apply our individual talents to meet the needs of our customers." Someone spoke up beside her. Turning with a start she saw the guy with glasses, Kyoya as he'd introduced himself to her, standing not a foot away. Pulling a book out from under his arm, he flipped it open to a certain page before handing it to her. "Tamaki, by the way, is our number one draw." On the page was written 'Request Data' and as she read the figures below it she nearly choked when she saw that the blond idiot actually had a request rate of seventy percent.

"You'll handle basic chores for a while." Kyoya continued as he plucked the book out of her hands. "You can refuse of course, and leave… but my family's reach is _long and wide_. You have a _passport_, I trust?" He said to her while smiling sweetly.

'_In other words, if you refuse can you get out of Japan before I get my hands on you?_'Haruhi translated in her mind, while she stared into a smile even the devil would be envious of.

"That's right Funky-oka! You've got $80,000 worth of chores to do." Tamaki whispered as he snuck up behind her and blew down her neck.

"EEYEW!" Haruhi squealed as she hopped away from him, franticly wondering just how the hell these guys kept sneaking up on her. Oh, right. It was because she'd taken another pill just before she came in. Takuma had said to take just two a day, but after almost turning on those two guys earlier, she hadn't wanted to take any chances. Perhaps she should have.

"Don't do that!" she said, raising a hand to cover the back of her neck.

"Oh? Don't care for that particular technique?"

"I have no interest in any techniques." She said with a huff, turning to face him. "Man or woman-", '_human or beast'_, she added silently. "-how we look is… irrelevant anyway right? It's what's _inside_ that's important!"

"Well, that's true…" he said, and for a moment, Haruhi actually started to believe that maybe he might be human after all.

Then Tamaki struck up a despairing pose while the projector threw off sparkling light. "…and so cruel… how god sometimes bestows perfection _inside_ and _out_!"

Takuma was surely a prophet. Haruhi found herself leaning heavily against a wall, on the brink of caving her head into it while that fool prattled on and on, unaware that he didn't even have an audience anymore. '_Gah! This guy, he's just so… so… oh what's the word I'm looking for? Not bothersome… it means that, but more…_'

Haruhi held her chin in one hand while she puzzled it out. An instant later when it came to her she smashed a fist into an open palm. "I got it!"

"Ah! You got what?!" Tamaki asked excitedly, believing he'd shed enlightenment on yet another soul.

"You're Annoying!" She said, pointing a finger right into his shocked face. A moment later, Haruhi was left standing in utter bewilderment with the twins suddenly next to her, roaring with laughter, as Tamaki fled to the nearest corner of the room and huddled down into the fetal position. As if on cue, all the lights in that part of the room shut off, and Tamaki was left swathed in darkness.

"That's telling him!!" Hikaru hooted out as he leaned onto his brother for support.

"You tore off a big chunk and swallowed it whole!!" Kaoru gasped, holding his sides while he patted her on the head.

Haruhi merely ignored them as she stepped closer towards Tamaki. '_I- just said what was on my mind… but I guess he didn't take it too well._' She thought as she reached a hand out to touch his shoulder.

"Umm… Tamaki…"

"KING." The twin's laughter cut off abruptly.

She stopped, lowering her hand. "What?"

"That's what they call me here. You too, or I don't know you!!" Tamaki replied stubbornly.

'_Are you serious?_' "Well… then… King, I-" Haruhi stopped as the twins fell into another fit of snickering. Looking back at them, she caught the two of them trading looks with each other and glancing over at Tamaki as they bit into their fists to keep from laughing any louder.

"King, you say?"Hikaru managed to get out a few seconds later.

"I'm sorry milord, but aren't you just a little mixed?" said his twin a second after, making Tamaki flinch. "After all" they said as one, "if anybody we're to be King here, wouldn't it have to be-"

"Sorry we're late, guys!" a singsong voice called out into the room. Passing through the main entrance, the smallest member waved at them as he was carried piggyback style into the room by the tallest. Haruhi felt an oddly nervous twinge enter her chest as she watched the tall male cut a path across the room, gliding with effortless grace around all the tables and chairs scattered about the room as he moved smoothly towards a circle of girls who greeted them warmly.

"Hunny! Mori! We've been waiting." said one of the girls with a bright smile.

"Sorry. I fell asleep waiting for Takashi to finish kendo." Haruhi heard Hunny reply as he was lifted off Mori's shoulders and set on the floor. Rubbing his eyes tiredly he said "still a bit sleepy", before he lunged onto the lap of the nearest girl, who shrieked excitedly as the boy snuggled into a comfortable position on top of her.

"Is he really a third year?" Haruhi asked, doubt lacing her words as she watched the girls chatter quietly to one another as the small boy drifted back to sleep. Her eyes shifted over to the tall male as he took his own seat, silently pouring tea into all the ladies cups before he started slicing up the cake that had previously lain untouched, ignored by all the girls who continued to fuss over how cute the other one was. "He looks like he ought to still be in grade school. And about Morinozuka-san…"saying the name out loud came easily enough, and she wondered briefly as to why she'd thought it would be before shaking it off and continuing on, "…how come he hasn't said a word since he came in?"

"Looks are deceiving." Tamaki explained as he stepped up next to her, already over his funk… not that anybody had really been paying attention. The twins had already scampered off elsewhere. "Despite his appearance and how he interacts with everyone, Hunny holds the highest grade in the third year class. And as for Mori, well, _silence_ is his thing."

Haruhi sighed as she closed her eyes, giving up any attempt to understand how this club functioned. "Honestly, all I wanted was someplace quiet to study…"

"Yeah, what 'bout at home?" Tamaki asked. It was an innocent question yet Haruhi stiffened as she realized that she didn't have a ready alibi- It's not like she could tell him the real reason why! Her mind scrambled to come up with something half-way believable.

"Uh- well, um, the thing is my- my father…" Haruhi winced at the way _that_ word seemed to tumble just as readily out of her mouth, and she sent a silent plea of forgiveness for what she was going to say next. "… My **father** brings his girls over during the day." She finished, feeling traitorous at the way it sounded as it came out, at how she was dragging her father's reputation through the mud.

"Oh…" Tamaki said, momentarily taken aback, unsure of what to say to that. "Well- I guess that does put a crimp in things. And he's skimpy with tuition?" He said glancing pointedly at her clothes.

"What? Oh- no, I'm- what I mean is, _we're_ okay. He- still has just a few issues with money he's got to deal with. That and, I guess, neither of us was too big on spending any extra cash. I mean, the money from the inheritance did help to get me into this school, but, I- _we_ both felt that it was pointless to spend on anything we could live without. You know, like uniforms or the lunches- things like that. Not that we couldn't if we wanted to- it's just… we prefer to live the simple life. Besides, I don't want to be any more of a burden to him. Along with everything else, he was stuck raising me pretty much by himself for ten years."

Tamaki was quiet for a few seconds as he looked at her. Then he brought a hand up to his chin as he seemed to study her more closely.

"So you live the simple life, you say? Simple like how?"

"Well…" she said slowly, not really sure what to make of his question. "…even though we got money, we're still living in the same apartment complex I grew up in. Nothing's really changed- accept that we have a few extra zeros in our account."

"Hmmm." Tamaki leaned back a bit, but he didn't take his eyes off her. "I'd define that situation as pathetic!"

"Huh? No, it's-" Tamaki cut her off however as he barreled on.

"Tell me, before you came into wealth, were you subsisting on rice and horseradish?" Dumbstruck by the turn in conversation Haruhi didn't react quickly enough to hold him off when Tamaki suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders. She was shocked to see that his eyes were streaming with tears. "You did say that your father had problems with money, didn't you? Were you so poor that, in order to pay off one of your father's outrageous debts, you might've been sold off to a mean master who'd overwork you and leave you crying into your pillow night after night!?"

"What the…!! Where'd this come from!?" she shrieked, wriggling out of his grasp.

"Whoops!" he said stepping back, whipping out a handkerchief to blow his nose. "Sorry, I've been hooked on reruns of 'Oshin' lately. You could have been living it…"

'_Wrong! It's not the same!'_ she thought, getting seriously pissed at the moment, though at him for being an idiot or at herself for not coming up with a better lie, she still wasn't sure.

Sniffing back more tears his face went suddenly serious. "Very well- I'll cut you a deal! You've made it clear you have no intention of paying us back with your inheritance, but because I feel sorry for you I'm willing to give this method a chance. Your appearance makes the task all but hopeless, but I will do my best to teach you. Let's see, let's make it… 100!" He said, pointing a finger into her stunned expression.

"Huh?!" '_What the hell's he going on about!? What's he saying?!'_

Yes!" he cried as if she'd agreed with him. "If you can garner 100 customer requests, I'll waive your debt to the Host Club! Just imagine it! You'll be the Star Host for all girls who love 'Oshin'!!"

'_I… I don't want toooo!!!!' _Haruhi cried out silently, her unvoiced wail of despair swallowed up by the never-ending ether of space.

* * *

The large room was faintly lit by the dim glow cast off by only a few oil lamps set high up into the ceiling. Beneath the guttering lamps shadowy figures moved amongst one another, the low murmur of their voices filling the space with a subdued atmosphere. Near the back of the room two of the figures sat away from the others at a small round table pushed off into an otherwise empty corner. From the center of the table a tiny flame flickered weakly on the wick of a candle, casting barely enough light to illuminate the features of the people surrounding it. The feeble yellow glow succeeded in pushing back the darkness just enough to reveal that one had a finely groomed black beard with silver streaks that covered everything while the other possessed more feminine features that showed up in the hairless softness of the skin and the delicate curve of the chin. Between them, various papers and manila files were spread out on the rest of the table's surface.

"So, do I have the approval to move forward with the proposed plan?" the feminine one spoke softly in a low voice.

The bearded fellow was silent for a moment, idly shuffling the papers around into organized piles before finally speaking up.

"The evidence you have compiled is certainly compelling… but _not_ concrete." He replied gruffly, saying it in a way that barred any further argument on the matter. "You've presented nearly everything required except verifiable proof. I have the authorization of the Association to grant you the go ahead, but I will only do so _if_ you can supply a _substantial_ piece of evidence. Find it, and you shall have the approval you seek. Although… I have to wonder-", the man said, his voice now taking on a patronizing tone "-your investigation in this matter has already been underway for four months. Can you do it, or should we have someone more… _capable_ take over?"

The only response was a vicious smile before the candle suddenly went out.

* * *

A/N: You'd think writing slightly altered scenes from the manga would turn out to be easy, but the fact is when you're trying to be creative with your wordplay, it sucks major donkey balls.

1- They're the two D class guys that were in the third episode with Renge; the manga, not the anime cause those guys were just plain fugly.


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Hello again. Sorry for the wait. Currently watching a 'Trigun' amv with the song 'Ain't no rest for the wicked' by Cage the Elephant. Over and over and over again.

And now for something completely different-

-Replies!

To my most loyal reviewers, though I often take far too long between posts you've yet to abandon me and for that I thank you and hope that this latest chapter meets your expectations.

1)DarkRavie: thank you, and I hope I don't disappoint.

2)Arashi-Yuuna Fukushima-: Thank you, and I assure you it will indeed be an incredible future.

3)Sergeant LemoOoN: Yep, and a lot more to come.

4)Scherherazade: You'll just have to wait and see. And you're right, even though I'm writing this it's still hard to grasp the kind of life style she's been forced into. Poor Haruhi. (weeps)

5)SamXwazXhere: Yay awesome points! Although, I certainly hope I haven't lost them for making everybody wait so long (sweat-drops) NANA FOREVER!!!

6)carpie noctum: Of course, anything for one of MY Junkies (LOL) just ask and you shall receive… usually… maybe… if fate permits.

(Note- I've replied only to those who reviewed since the last time I posted, simply because I don't know if anyone who reviewed before had finally gotten fed up with me and was no longer reading MB anymore. Sorry to all you out there, and remember, if you want a reply next time, gimme' a review. I need them desperately. Suggestions are welcome along with songs.)

And now onto something more important-

Disclaimer- characters and terminology ain't mine, but the story is.

* * *

Haruhi strolled down the street at a leisure pace as she made her way through Bunkyo-Ku, her eyes sweeping over store fronts as she searched for a convenience store. The Host club had been somewhat low on some of the refreshments that they usually offered their guests so Kyoya had sent her out to fetch them. Even though it meant she'd be paying out of her own pocket to purchase the goods Haruhi had gladly taken up the task. Despite the fact that she'd only been granted an hour to complete the chore, she certainly wasn't in a hurry to hasten her short reprieve away from those lunatics.

Before the club was set to open she had spent the past half hour saddled with Tamaki as he attempted the arduous task of educating her into the proper comportment expected of a host by teaching her how to be elegant. It had proven a grueling effort for the both of them. And painful, though that only applied to her, as Tamaki had taken to using a paper fan to 'discipline' her every time she made a mistake. Someone must have been watching out for her (a guardian deity perhaps?) for if Hunny-sempai hadn't interrupted Tamaki's training session, if he had hit her just _one_ more time, she would have snatched the fan away and then proceeded to beat the crap out of him with it.

Thus, another lawsuit narrowly avoided.

As the memory of the past half hour came back to her, Haruhi found herself reaching into her pocket and pulling out the medicine bottle. Popping another pill into her mouth, she grimaced at both the taste as it went down and the uncomfortable thought that if this kept up she was going to run out of curare before the week was over with. She really didn't like the idea of having to ask Takuma for more, but she also didn't favor the thought of losing it the next time Tamaki acted like an idiot- or if more of her classmates chose to attack her.

Sighing as she stuffed the bottle back into her pocket, already starting to feel lethargic as the curare immediately began to take effect, Haruhi let her thoughts drift back to this morning following the incident from the day before. When she'd walked into class the two boys that had ganged up on her had kept their distance, watching her cautiously. A few of the other students had looked at her with colder eyes but no one approached her. All in all, the day had been pretty uneventful.

And she believed without a doubt that it was all thanks to _him_. Her brows drew together as her mind centered on the anonymity surrounding the tallest member in the Host club.

Morinozuka, or rather, Mori-sempai. The man's very existence excited and frustrated her to no end. She was positive that his interference yesterday had meant _something_; otherwise she was sure her day wouldn't have gone nearly as smoothly as it had. But the question was, why? Who was this male that he could make even yakuza children defer to his will? She wasn't nearly close enough to any of her classmates to feel comfortable asking them a question like that, and going to one of the other Hosts didn't feel appropriate since the only times she saw them was at the club and he was usually already there himself. And as for just asking the man himself… as the vision of those dark eyes came back to her, Haruhi felt another shudder run up her spine. No, that wasn't quite an option yet.

But still, just _what_ exactly _was_ Mori-sempai?

Was it possible that he was of the Blood Tribe?

The very thought was a provocative torment.

The underlying fact was, as things currently stood, she couldn't be positive in knowing one way or the other if he was or he wasn't. Even if she had the full use of her senses that didn't guarantee an immediate answer since even if he _was_ a beast he could also be under the effect of curare. She'd thought about going to Takuma, but somehow it didn't feel right asking after someone else since she herself was withholding the truth of her own identity. She was unwilling to admit to herself that the real reason she didn't ask was because she was afraid to know what Takuma would say if she did. And in regards to the power she'd felt contained behind those eyes… well, frankly, that didn't tell her much either.

In all honesty, she couldn't even begin to identify what exactly the imposing strength reflected in those eyes was. Could it merely have been an overwhelming sense of Self-assurance? Self- confidence? Or was it more than that? Whatever it was, just because he had it didn't necessarily make him a Beast. Though her kin had cast her out and exiled her from the village, that hadn't meant that contact with others of the Blood Tribe had ceased. Her little family had met with a fair number of others in the passing years, even forming a few loose friendships with some of them, but none of them had possessed the same breed of power she'd felt resided within Mori-sempai.

This didn't mean however that she was a stranger to it.

The echo of familiarity was there. The first time she'd felt that kind of energy, or something very similar to it, it had been emanating from her father.

At that time, he'd been set to kill.

She turned a corner and looked up to see the sign to a small market store only a couple buildings away. Haruhi shook her head, banishing that thread of thought and wherever it might have lead, and made her way towards the front entrance. The sign in front of the store read 'Apple Tree Mart" and painted on the inside of both window panes was a faded mural of an apple orchard with a farmer resting underneath one of the trees. Walking in she quickly located everything written on the short list she'd been given, paid for it and was out again in a matter of minutes. She was readjusting the bag in her arms for a better grip when somebody suddenly grabbed her arm and jerked her around. She now found herself face to face with Longhair and Spiky.

"You-!" Haruhi gasped as she tried unsuccessfully to shake him off her.

"Yeah. Me." Longhair grinned darkly at her as he grabbed hold of her other arm. "Think it's about time we finished up the 'chat' we we're having, right?"

"Wrong!", she spat, trying once more to jerk out of his grasp, and becoming thoroughly baffled when the only thing she managed to accomplish was to lose her grip on the groceries.

Then with a sickening jolt she remembered that she'd only just taken a pill not long ago. Within a split second she realized that the curare circulating in her system was still at the height of its effectiveness, that for the time being she was unable to summon up the strength to get this bastard off her. That's when she started to panic.

'_Please! Somebody!-'_she thought frantically as the bag slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground, spilling the majority of its contents out into the road, '-_help me!_' When she realized that nobody was there to step in her panic grew and she started to thrash about wildly, struggling desperately to break free. Spiky moved up quickly behind her and she nearly choked as he laid his hands firmly on top of her shoulders.

'_Help me-'_she thought, continuing to fight them as they tried to herd her towards a narrow alley between the store and another building '-_Mori-sempai!_'

"Yo, cool it man!" Spiky hissed into her ear. "Don't make a scene. We're just trying to keep-", He was cut off as one of the cans from her sack suddenly crashed into his face. With a howl of pain he stumbled back, landing on his ass, hands clenched tightly against his now bleeding nose as Haruhi and Longhair stared down dumbly at him.

"What the hell-", someone spoke up behind Longhair. "-is going on here!?"

'_It couldn't be_." Haruhi thought, the image of a dark haired savior rising into her mind as she and Longhair turned towards the speaker. "Mori-se-"

The rest of the word froze in her mouth as both she and Longhair went stiff as they saw who it was standing before them. With an ominous aura surrounding him and flashing eyes promising instant doom staring out past the red locks that hung down into his face stood none other than Ritsu Kasanoda, the 'Human Blizzard.' His eyes flickered momentarily on her, on the grip that Longhair still maintained on her arms before he turned his angry glare back onto Longhair, who visibly flinched, every last drop of color draining out of his face until it was paper white as he stared fearfully back into those hateful eyes. As Haruhi looked at the expression on that face she finally understood with shocking clarity the fear that everyone held for this man.

He was a man that bore the face of a devil.

"Well?" Kasanoda growled menacingly. He took a single step and Longhair bolted like a mad hare, shoving Haruhi aside who in turn tumbled to the ground as he made his escape while Spiky scrambled to his feet and tried to catch up as his friend left him behind.

"We tried warn'n ya!" Longhair screamed back before he and Spiky cut around a corner and disappeared.

'_What?_' Haruhi thought as Kasanoda came up from behind.

"Hey", he said gruffly and Haruhi turned back to face him. When she looked up she was expecting to see his anger centered onto her but, as her eyes fell upon his face, she was taken aback. The glare was still there but- how could she explain it… something about him had changed. It was like all the heat and fury that should have been there had simply vanished. And there was something else too. As he reached his hand out to help her up she was astonished to realize that the sharp eyes gazing back at her were filled with genuine worry.

"Are you ok Fujioka?" he asked.

"Y-yes" she said, marveling at what was happening as she took the proffered hand. Not only was the one guy that everyone had believed was going to rough her up instead helping her, this was now the second time in about as many days she'd had somebody from that damn school actually show their concern for her. "Thank you" she whispered.

"Uh?!" he suddenly grunted, startling her. "Oh, um, sorry… you're welcome."

When she was off the ground he let go of her hand before he stepping over to the side of the road and picking up her fallen bag. He looked at the bag in his hand for a second, then he let his eyes roam over the road that most of the groceries had rolled into, pulverized already after being run over by several cars, before he turned his head again and sent a withering glare in the direction that the other two had fled.

"Those bastards" He growled handing the bag and the few items that still remained inside it to her. "I mean jeez, what the hell was that all about?"

That surprised her. "You mean- you don't know?" seeing him shake his head in confusion Haruhi quickly filled him in, about how she'd gotten top grade, the 'rumors' that had sprung up about the both of them because of it, the way everybody seemed to hate and avoid her even more than they did before and how some of them had decided to take it into their own hands to 'inform' her against doing it again, for the sake of everyone else's 'safety.' By the time she was finished he was staring at her with his jaw dropped.

"Uh?! Are you serious?!" She nodded and he turned his head away. He was silent for a moment then he looked back down at her bag.

"What are you missing?' he asked.

Pulling the list out of her pocket Haruhi peeked inside the bag and groaned.

"It looks like-only a couple pears and a can of instant coffee survived. Man, what do I do now? I just spent all the money I had on me to buy this stuff and the guys are expecting me back at the club." As she was figuring out how she was going to explain to the Hosts why she hadn't been able to bring everything back with her Kasanoda, without any warning, plucked the list out of her hand.

"Wait! What are you-"

"Just follow me." He said quickly, cutting her off as he walked right into the store. She followed him in amazement as he took up a basket and they went back through the store and started gathering everything that had been lost. As they went up and down the aisles she tried several times to tell him to stop and each time he willfully pretended not to hear her. When he started to make his way towards the checkout stand however Haruhi quickly grabbed his arm.

"Hold on, don't tell me you're going to pay for all that?"

"Oh course I am," he said handing the basket over to the terrified clerk. "You didn't think I was just going to walk out without paying, did you?"

"But why?" She asked, utterly mystified as he paid for the groceries and then handed the new bag over to her.

"Think of it as an apology for… you know-"

He looked away uncomfortably as she stared up at him in disbelief. "You see, the thing is… you wouldn't be having this kind of trouble if it those guys weren't acting stupid because of what they thought I was going to do, so, this is my way of asking for forgiveness for all the difficulties I've put you through."

"But- none of it's your fault-"She almost ran into him as he came to an abrupt halt just outside the door. When he turned his head around the scowl on his face had slipped away as he looked down at her in surprise and then, for a moment, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards into the briefest hint of a smile before his scowl set back in place.

"That's the sad part about my life, Fujioka- it usually always is."

With that he turned away, stuffing his hands into his pocket while hunching his shoulders, and ambled down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the school without a single backward glance. Haruhi stood there for a time, feeling her heart ache with mounting sympathy as she watched the distance between them stretch longer and longer with every step he took, before finally turning around and making her way back to the school.

* * *

The music room was filled with roses.

Haruhi stood rooted at the door as she wondered what flowery hell she'd wandered into this time. It took her a moment before she remembered that what she was seeing wasn't real. Squinting her eyes, she peered past the flood of CGI roses until she finally centered in on the most probable cause of this latest eyesore as he sat deeply engaged in conversation with a redhead who certainly appeared amused by whatever it was that he was telling her. They both looked up when she closed the door behind her.

"Ah, the kittens back from shopping."

'_Kitten_?' Haruhi thought as she made straight for the closest empty table, sending a questioning glance towards Tamaki as he excused himself and rose up from the coach to follow her. Before she'd even set the bag down he started reaching into the bag and pulling things out.

"Eh? What's this?" he asked, holding up the coffee container.

"Coffee. It was on your list." She replied, wondering what he was getting at or if he was just trying to be cute. The damn thing was labeled after all.

"But… ground coffee? And such a strange brand…"

Ok, apparently he didn't know how to read. "Not ground… **instant**."

"Instant…" he said slowly, as if tasting the word. Then suddenly he let out a gasp and stared bug-eyed at the instant coffee as if it was the most astounding thing he'd ever laid eyes on. "You mean the one you just pour hot water in? How Proletarian!!" And just like that all the other club members materialized out of nowhere and clustered tightly around him, trying to get a look at what he held in his hands.

"Hmm. I've heard of it but never seen it…"

"So it's true! Poor people have no time to grind their beans!"

"It's how the common folk cope!"

"I've always wanted to try it! Let's brew some up! Common folk's coffee!"

"Okay, I get the point! Next time I'll go get the expensive stuff!" Haruhi snapped angrily as she backed out of the circle. '_Rich kids! Phooey!!' _she thought turning away as the boys continued to babble like a flock of geese over the stuff. A chuckle caught her attention and she turned her head to see the redhead Tamaki had been entertaining still seated on the couch.

"They're just messing around, you know." She said, not taking her eyes off the group. "That crap won't suit their tastes at all."

"Huh?"

"Oh sorry…," she said, looking over at Haruhi as if just noticing that she'd been standing there. She smiled at her but there wasn't a single trace of warmth in the gesture. "…I was merely talking to myself."

"Right…" Haruhi said slowly. '…a_s if I could actually be stupid enough to believe that…_'

"Haruhi!"

Tamaki was calling her name and both girls turned to see him, the other hosts and a small group of girls all standing together and looking at her expectantly. "Make us some of this commoner folk's coffee!" Tamaki said excitedly, sweeping a hand over the group behind him. "Everyone's keen to try it."

"Master Tamaki…?" The girl beside her said aloud, staring at Tamaki incredulously. Haruhi felt momentarily smug at seeing the girl proven wrong about her idol's interest before she realized what it was that he'd told her to do. Holding in a groan she went over and quickly 'demonstrated' how to make instant coffee before passing out cups to everyone there.

"I won't be responsible if they don't like it." She said sidelong to Tamaki, looking pointedly at the group as several of the girls already started showing signs of having second thoughts.

"If _they_ don't like it?" He replied mockingly before strolling over to one of the doubting girls. In a fluid motion he reached down and cupped her cheeks in his hands, tilting her head up to stare invitingly into her eyes, as he asked, in a hushed tone that nonetheless carried over the entire group, "Would you rather drink it from my mouth…?"

The girl's eyes flew wide open in shock and her face burned crimson red before she weakly replied that a cup was fine.

"And now a toast- with instant coffee!" Tamaki cried out, raising his cup before downing it with aggressive enthusiasm.

As the crowd let out a cheer and one by one, encouraged by the fact that the King hadn't dropped dead on the spot, tasted their drinks, one of the few girls who'd refrained from partaking in the toast sidled up beside the redhead sitting on the couch, leaning over to whisper quietly in her ear.

"Doesn't it seem wrong for Master Tamaki to drink such swill? Doesn't it, Miss Ayanokoji?"

Ayanokoji chuckled at the girls concern. "Well… it's all part of a new project of his- though he may be overdoing it a bit."

The other girl seemed reassured by the answer yet Ayanokoji's eyes, straying back to Tamaki as he ordered the little common bred twit to prepare another cup of that unrefined mud water, chilled ever so slightly.

* * *

She sat atop the roof of the apartment complex, watching as the sun finally sank behind the skyline and more lights from the windows of the buildings around her winked to life. As the sun's light bled out of the clouds that hung suspended above the city, their heavy bodies darkening until a black sea floated in the sky overhead, Haruhi breathed out a contented sigh. The day was truly over. The cup of tea she held cradled in her hands was pleasantly warm, the air refreshingly fragrant now that the curare had run its course and all her senses were her own again, and for the time being nothing was wrong.

She might have believed that if not for the growls in her head. The low throaty sounds echoed in the space between what she was and what she was becoming, and on that side stood the primal side of her nature, waiting, growing ever more impatient, ever more excited.

There were two of her now, and both were vying for control.

She shivered as her mind brushed against the all-consuming desire stirring behind her other half, feeling the steadily rising agitation intermixed with equal parts blissful, fluttering pleasure and fluctuating spasms of rage. A consciousness derived of need- the need to run wild, to do as she pleased without any thought of consequence, to assert herself from the shadows into a world that denied her existence. The Inner Beast of her soul, the primal yen that skirted the boundaries of her humanity, occasionally overlapping, was an ever present awareness that prowled within the deeper depths of her mind. At any other time she would have had no difficulty suppressing that side of herself, ignoring the pull those emotions had on her, but now…

She cast a glance upward towards the clouds above. Their massive forms blocked all view of the sky in a veil of rolling shadows yet Haruhi could still feel beyond them the glory of the moon as it rode towards fullness. Though Its' silver light failed to pierce the thick cloud cover its power still reached her, seeking her out and filling her with an energy that shimmered through her veins- a liquid heat that would only get steadily worse in the coming nights.

And which would undoubtedly draw the Beast from the depths to the forefront… which was exactly why she dreaded the coming weekend. Not only for what the waxing moon would do to her or her body, of course, but for what she feared she was now obligated to do to herself.

Exercise restraint. An abominable concept that sent her primal half flying into an ugly fit of screaming and snarling. The saner part of her was half-tempted to join in and wail her own lament towards the injustice.

And yet it had to be done. This wasn't home. Nor was it like the time during the flight from the north she and uncle had made. Under the cover of night they'd had the freedom to take one final chance and run through the forests on their way here, exhilarating in the glorious feeling being in their second forms and running beneath the basking glow of the moon brought them. It had been an escape from the reality that pursued them. Here, in the core of Tokyo, that escape didn't exist. The release she craved wasn't optional.

Which, given the exceptional drama she found herself trapped in, made it all the more a pity. Fate must have had it in for her. It was the only way to explain all the curve balls she'd been throwing her way lately.

Haruhi stared down into her cup as she pondered the latest tangle in the threads of her life. The first snag down the line stemmed from her classmates behavior ever since the grading results had been posted. They hadn't really liked her before but now some of them were taking action against her. The next to come after that belonged to the host club, a loopy thing that had come out of nowhere and had quickly twisted itself in and around her life, almost instantly becoming inextricable. From there on everything went haywire as it all broke apart and reformed into a knot of loose threads which had recently become her greatest concerns: The need for curare, the effects of the rising moon, the speculation surrounding Mori-sempai and now the circumstance involving Kasanoda.

The moons path wouldn't alter itself for her and Mori-sempai was a moot point unless some key evidence presented itself. At the moment the last was the one that haunted her the most.

Kasanoda. The poor guy blamed himself for something that shouldn't have had anything to do with him. Behind that glare Haruhi had caught a glimpse of the gentle kind person he really was and it angered her to think about how they'd both been dragged down by their fellow classmates. She'd heard all the things said about him along with her and it fueled her rage to know that he'd been marred just as badly because of a false presumption.

Something would have to be done. She wouldn't just stand by and let this injustice continue. The eighty thousand dollar question now was how?

Well, the answer to that question could be put off until the right moment presented itself. Her need for curare could not.

She frowned as she reached into her pocket and fingered the bottle, but didn't take it out. The bottle had only enough for a couple more days but after that, unless she asked Takuma for more, she'd be totally out. That was, of course, if she decided on going to school for the rest of the week. When she'd told Takuma she had no intention of walking away from the host club she'd forgotten just how close the full moon was. Now however, with the way her life had been going, she wasn't sure she wanted to take the risk.

She wasn't even sure she could.

Looking back up Haruhi gazed at the impenetrable cloud barrier as it moved slowly across the sky. On a sudden whim she decided to try to pinpoint the exact location of the moon behind it by guessing from which direction its energy was infusing her. Closing her eyes, she started to reach out with her senses- before she was suddenly sent reeling back in shock.

It was like a hard slap to the face that left her gasping for air. She'd been sitting here on the roof for god knows how long and until that very moment she'd been wholly ignorant to what had been happening to her the entire time.

It was with an abrupt awareness to the situation that Haruhi suddenly realized just how hot her whole body felt, how impossibly tight, her pulse racing with her breath as it came out short and shallow. All of her nerves teetered on a knife's edge. She scrambled off the roof when a breeze barely stronger than a breath threatened to blow them over after it caressed an area of exposed skin practically burning with heightened sensitivity.

Even after she was inside though she could still feel the moon's energy, seeping sweetly into her veins, and realized that just having a roof over her head wasn't going to cut it. Swearing a colorful variety of oaths, she tore off her clothes and leapt into the shower. She gasped as the blast of cold water that came shooting out hit her body like a spray of ice, which immediately turned into a groan as she slumped against the shower wall, taking an almost explicit pleasure as she became enveloped in the sensation of water washing over her body as it carried the heat away.

Regardless of whether she chose to attend school or not tomorrow, she _was_ going to get more pills. She had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach that if she was going to survive the coming weekend, to prevent the Beast from breaking loose, she'd need them.

* * *

Haruhi marched down the hallway with sluggish grace. After a restless night involving two additional showers and another pill that still resulted in very little shut eye in the ongoing battle with her restive hormones Haruhi had finally given up on the prospect of a decent sleep and decided to idle her remaining hours away going through one of her textbooks before the time came to head off to school.

Rolling her shoulders she tried warding off another yawn, annoyed with the fact that she was getting tired _now_ that she had to stay awake. She thought momentarily about turning back around and blowing off the whole day to crawl back into bed but shook it off after a couple seconds of not-so-serious consideration. Her priorities came first.

And first on the list was getting her damn awful medicine from good old doctor Takuma. After that she would have a little chat with Kasanoda and she _would_ let him know that his apology was _not_ accepted. There was no way in hell she was going to let him continue believing that he'd had any part in this fiasco, and that went for the rest of this school too. And if that required getting a little physical to state her point, well, so be it. After that, she'd see where things led her.

Another yawn worked its way up but this time she gave in and let it have its way with her. Screw it- she needed to think properly and for that her brain needed some more air. No need to tread the war path this early in the morning.

After a few more minutes of walking she finally reached the classroom. As her fingers went for the grip she sincerely hoped that Takuma was there, but not just for the medicine. She'd need somebody she could trust to pull her off should she get hostile. The door opened and as Haruhi stepped in she suddenly found herself surrounded by Yakuza children.

'_What the Hell?!_ _A Lynching?!_' was her immediate thought process as she stumbled back, throwing her arms up in defense. Her Inner Beast snarled within her mind and surged forth at the sudden prospect of a fight.

"Fujioka, please forgive us!" one of those nearest to her suddenly cried out.

Her brain nearly crashed as the words failed to process. Her Inner Beast was stunned into silence. She'd started to believe she'd misheard until she looked at them more closely and was alarmed when she saw that all of them looked positively scared. Some of them even had tears in their eyes. Just as she was about to ask what the hell was going on one of them shifted to the side and she was able to see the rest of the room beyond them. What she saw rendered her speechless.

The room was completely demolished. All the desks and chairs had been thrown against the walls, while books and other personal belongings lay scattered all over the floor.

"What…" she'd barely gotten the word out before everybody seemed to jump in at once.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted." The little brunette from the other day sniveled.

"Fujioka… I'm so sorry, I was spreading weird rumors." Another piped in.

"Sorry, I won't say anything bad about you anymore."

"Me too… I'm sorry, so…"

This went on for a while and all Haruhi could do was gape. It was like she'd fallen into a surreal dream.

"What-"she finally managed to interject, cutting off the flow of apologies"-What the heck is going on here? Yesterday, none of you would have given a damn if I died in the gutter and now… this? And just what the heck happened here?!" she said, waving a hand wildly towards the room. When she didn't get an immediate answer Haruhi snarled. "Spit it out!"

Everyone around her flinched and as one their eyes all turned everywhere but towards her. For the longest moment nobody spoke until one of them, a boy with short black hair and ears that looked too big for his head, suddenly cleared his throat and shuffled forward nervously.

"O-oh the room?" he said weakly. "N-nothing happened. I m-mean yeah, it's kind of trashed but- but that's only cause' we were all fooling around. The room needed redecorating anyways, right guys?" He laughed nervously and everyone around him started nodding their heads vigorously. He quickly shut up though when he saw her pointed glare and knew that she wasn't buying it. "Alright, alright, the truth is… it was Kasanoda."

"Kasanoda?" she repeated in a cross tone, her eyes boring into the boy in a way that told him to continue. Seeing her attention focused solely on him the others started to drift away. As the group broke up and started to wander cautiously around the room, putting the desks back in their proper place and picking up the strewn papers, Haruhi caught a flash of red and turned her head to see Kasanoda at his seat. He just sat there and watched the others as they moved around him with seemingly detached interest.

"Yeah, the thing is…" He glanced over at Kasanoda, too, before looking down guiltily and lowering his voice. "…a few of us were talking about the two of you, and the Human Blizzard- he- he kinda overheard us. The next thing we knew the guy was in our faces, screaming that there was nothing going on between you two, that he didn't have the time to waste it on someone like you, and then, well…" he nodded towards the messy room. "It was terrifying."

"I see."Haruhi replied crisply, passing the boy without a second look as she stepped further into the room, her eyes trained onto Kasanoda.

As she moved towards Kasanoda a sudden hush fell over the rest of the room, the others pausing in its cleanup as Haruhi came to a stop in front of him. The room stood still, nary a single person daring to breathe, as Kasanoda's head swung up to look at her, his sharp, glaring eyes locking on to hers. And then, in a moment that shocked everyone, causing several of the observers to gasp and Kasanoda's eyes to widen in shock, Haruhi did something truly startling.

She smiled at him.

"Thank you." She whispered softly enough for only him to hear, before turning back into the room and quickly set to locating her desk. Kasanoda stared after her, unbeknownst to him the fact that he was being watched by the majority of the class who were waiting to see how he'd react.

'_Just now, what was that?'_ Kasanoda thought, as he watched Haruhi put her desk back in place. _'When he smiled at me, and looked at me with those big eyes of his… for a moment he almost sort of looked like a girl. But no, that isn't important. That guy isn't afraid of me…?'_

As Haruhi moved in front of the window and the light shining though silhouetted her figure, highlighting her hair and making her light skin glow, Kasanoda was thrown off his line of thought as he was suddenly struck by a startling realization: Haruhi was truly beautiful-

-Beautiful, and elegant and utterly to be possessed.

'_Wait, WHAT?!_'

Kasanoda, a sudden hot blush blooming across his face, abruptly leapt up from his seat, sending it crashing back, as he dashed towards the door… straight towards the group of people who'd been watching him which caused them to shriek and sent all of them scattering away in fear.

'_W-w-what the heck am I thinking?!_' he screeched silently within his mind as he tore off down the hall, trails blazing, like a madman.

* * *

Reaching the top of the stairs Haruhi tread quietly down the last stretch of hall towards the Host Club, deeply absorbed within her thoughts. In the course of one morning two of the concerns that had plagued her mind had been resolved only to have a new one take their place.

Following Kasanoda's sudden departure Takuma had walked into the room and Haruhi had learned, along with the rest of the class, that after today he would be gone for the rest of the week. When lunch had come around Haruhi, in the midst of receiving another bottle of pills, discovered he would be gone over the weekend as well and why.

Considering what he told her, Haruhi thought she would've been better off not knowing.

In the week preceding every full moon the population within the Blood Tribes got downright rowdy as the white goddess soared across the sky, filling her children with a gratifying rush of hot energy. During this time, everywhere the world around secret celebrations were held beneath her luminous glow, sometimes entire communities devolving into riotous behavior in order to burn off most of that energy. It was a time, outside the familiarity of humanities realm, in which a society lost to myth gathered together to run, to dance, but more simply than that to revel in the purity of life itself. It was a joyous occasion where members of the Beast tribes often found not only each other but themselves as well.

But sometimes people went missing.

And that was exactly why Takuma had to go.

Somewhere in the past two nights a minor family belonging to one of the tribes residing within Okayama over in Western Honshu had gone missing. It had been a family of four- the youngest being about the same age as her. Though it wasn't an uncommon occurrence for small families like that to just up and leave the fact that none of the other members in their tribe had been notified of their departure, coupled with the disturbing lack of any follow-able trace of them, had left all the tribes in the area unsettled. What was worse was a rumor had now sprung up in the wake of their absence that had left everyone all the more ill at ease.

There was talk that the family hadn't merely disappeared- they'd been hunted.

An investigation was already underway but now, because of this sudden disappearance, Takuma was being called over to help analyze the security systems in that region until the full moon had passed. It was a move to reassure the community that everything that could be done to maintain their safety was being done. The problem with that, however, was that left her with nobody to turn to if the shit hit the proverbial fan.

But what could they do about it? Takuma wasn't exactly in a position to decline.

Haruhi sighed. Worrying about things outside her control did her little good and she already had enough on her plate without adding more. As she reached the third music room and walked through the door Haruhi shook her head and resolved that she'd try not to let anything else bother her. If anything peculiar came her way, she'd just go with the flow. Big words considering fate seemed to be giving her the stink eye lately. But all the same, her life couldn't get any weirder than it already was, right?

"Listen up!" came Tamaki's authoritative voice. "Today we investigate the ramen of the common folk!"

Well so much for that theory.

* * *

A/N: oh, sudden interesting developments. Poor, poor Cassanova-kun. Until next time! (Turns and hops back down the rabbit hole)


End file.
